Page 113 - ART OF THE ISLAMIC AND INDIAN WORLDS Carpets, Ceramics Objects, Christie's London Oct..27, 2022

A DISPERSED FOLIO FROM THE ST. PETERSBURG MURAQQA’

95
A ROYAL CAVALCADE OF HUNTERS AND A CHENCHU COUPLE
STALKING DEER BY
NIGHT
THE PAINTING, MUGHAL INDIA, CIRCA 1691; THE CALLIGRAPHY
SIGNED 'IMAD AL-HASSANI, SAFAVID IRAN, CIRCA 1600;
THE BORDER SIGNED MUHAMMAD YAZDI, QAJAR IRAN,
DATED AH 1247/1831-32 AD
The Album:
Opaque pigments heightened with gold on paper, to the left a noble on It is believed that the Indian paintings from the album now known as the
horseback and his retinue are hawking, to the right two Chenchus are hunting
St. Petersburg Muraqqa’ were taken to Iran by Nadir Shah following his
deer by torchlight, within gold and white rules on wide margins illuminated
sack of Delhi in 1739. Whilst there, the folios were given new borders
in gold with animals and plants; the calligraphy on the reverse composed
and almost all backed by panels of calligraphy by the master calligrapher
of three panels, each with 7ll. black nasta'liq in white clouds against a gold
Mir ‘Imad, as here. The album was obtained in 1909 by the Russian Aulic
and polychrome illuminated ground, one panel signed, within pink and gold
illuminated borders, the dark blue margins with gold illuminated flowers and Councillor Ostrogradsky from Jews in Tehran who had in turn purchased
insects, signed and dated in upper margin it from the Royal Library. It was then presented to the Russian Museum in
Painting 9º x 14æin. (23.5 x 37.5cm.); calligraphy 9æ x 7¿in. (24.7 x 18cm.); st. Petersburg (Francesca von Habsburg et al, The St. Petersburg Muraqqa’,
folio 12æ x 18æin. (32.5 x 47.8cm.) Lugano, 1996, p.20). At that stage the manuscript contained exactly 100
leaves. In 1912 the Metropolitan Museum purchased one leaf which appears
£300,000-500,000 US$350,000-570,000
€350,000-570,000 to be the earliest provenance on any of the leaves outside Russia. In 1931
six of the best folios were sold to the Freer Gallery. Other folios from the
album, mostly split and thus comprising only a painting or a calligraphy,
LITERATURE:
Adeela Qureshi de Unger, The Hunt as Metaphor in Mughal Painting (1556- have sold at auction. These include one sold in these Rooms, 21 April 2016,
1707), Artibus Asiae Publishers, Suppl. LV [55], Zurich, 2022, fig. 112 lot 19; 26 April 2012, lot 319; 25 April 2013, lot 49. A calligraphic folio from
(forthcoming 2022) the album sold 25 April 2013, lot 49.
110 In addition to the hammer price, a Buyer’s Premium (plus VAT) is payable. Other taxes and/or an Artist Resale Royalty 111
fee are also payable if the lot has a tax or λ symbol. Check Section D of the Conditions of Sale at the back of this catalogue.