Page 72 - Indian and Himalayan Art Mar 21, 2018 NYC

PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF STAFFORD ELIAS

334
AN ILLUSTRATION TO THE DVADASA BHAVA:
MIR KANAK RECEIVED BY A KING
MUGHAL COURT ARTIST AT ALLAHABAD,
NORTH INDIA, 1600-1605
Opaque watercolor heightened with gold on paper, two lines
of black nasta’liq above and below, the name Mir Kanak
picked out in gold each time, the reverse with 15ll. black,
blue, red and gold nasta’liq, colored ruled margins each side,
mounted, framed and glazed
Painting 6æ x 4¡ in. (17 x 11.3 cm.)
folio 13º x 8¬ in. (33.5 x 22 cm.)
$30,000-50,000
PROVENANCE
Sotheby’s London, 11 July 1972, part lot 45.

At the meeting depicted here the king is so impressed by
Mir Kanak that he hands over the throne to him. Mir Kanak
rules so well that the king also gives one of his daughters in
marriage to him.

The artist of this painting in the original catalogue was
identifed as “Artist C.” His style is more classic, with
harder outlines, and some noticeable small faces. The
composition is very close indeed to the work of a number
of artists in Akbar’s studio, but again the sense of fun,
noted in the background of the previous lot, is found in the
characterization of some of the fgures in the foreground.

(verso)

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