Page 32 - Bonhams Chinese Works of Art December 2014

2061 2062

2061 PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE VIRGINIA COLLECTION,
A PORTRAIT OF A PRINCESS ACQUIRED BEFORE 2001
Late Mughal, late 18th century
Opaque watercolor and gold on paper; standing in profile with a vial and 2063
small cup in her hands, all set within floral-patterned and gold-flecked A PORTRAIT OF AN EURASIAN NOBLEWOMAN
borders, the verso with two stamps, one of the Maharaja of Bundi. Lucknow, Late 18th century
5 7/8 x 4 1/4in (15 x 10.7cm) image Opaque watercolor and gold on paper; a half-portrait of a Eurasian
$3,000 - 5,000 woman seated in Western-influenced bodice and holding a golden
cup and flask, all set within narrow gilt floral and wide orange borders,
Solitary portraits of young princesses were popular in the 18th century a nas’taliq ink inscription to the top reading tasvir mastisa Calcutta
and were primarily produced for the ruling elite and foreigners for (‘picture of a Calcutta Eurasian’).
inclusion in albums. Compare with a very closely related composition 3 3/4 x 2 1/2in (9.5 x 6.4cm) image
from the ‘Small Clive Album’ in the Victoria & Albert Museum, $3,000 - 5,000
IS.48:27/B-1956.
As noted in the description of a closely related portrait in the Victoria
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE NEW MEXICO COLLECTION & Albert Museum (IS.259-1952), the concept for this work “is
adapted from the figure of ‘Poetry’ by Cornelius Jacobsz. Drebbel
2062 (1572-1634) after Hendrik Goltzius, from The Liberal Arts. The figure
A PORTRAIT OF A NOBLEMAN has been slightly modified and reversed, and was copied in this
Lucknow, 18th century altered form several times by Mughal artists in the late 17th and
Opaque watercolor and gold on paper; a portrait of a noble man, 18th centuries.” For another closely related portrait of a European
possibly Asaf-ud-Daula, seated on a terrace overlooking a landscape, courtesan in the Indian Office Library, see Archer & Falk, Indian
the single attendant with a peacock flywhisk, all set within a floral- Miniatures, 1980, p. 444, no. 326.
patterned border.
6 1/4 x 4 7/8in (15.8 x 12.5cm) image
$1,000 - 1,500

Provenance
ex-collection of Charles F. Ramus (R.C.50.2546.R192 (5657.I))

30 | BONHAMS