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Illustration of the Life of Shah Jahan Entering (?) His Palace in Burhanpur

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Illustration of the Life of Shah Jahan Entering (?) His Palace in Burhanpur Auctionneer : Millon.com December 2nd 2019, lot 366 Illustration of the life of Shah Jahan entering (?) his palace in Burhanpur. Previously unseen painting probably intended to the Windsor Padshahnamah. Signed 'Abid, brother of Nadir al-Zaman al-Mashhadi Dated the 3rd reign year of Shah Jahan, located in Burhanpur India, Mughal art, 1630-31 On the reverse, poetic quatrain signed by the calligrapher 'Imad al-Hassani Mounted on an album page from the St Petersbourg album Page: 47.5 x 32.3 cm Painting: 30.1 x 20 cm Calligraphy panel: 32.9 x 17.8cm Provenance By inheritance, Antoine Kitabgi Khan (1843-1902), senior officer of the Qajar Empire. Inscriptions Recto: dar balda-i burhanpur bi-itmam rasid sana 3 It was completed in the city of Burhanpur, (regnal) year 3. ‘amal-i ghulam-i tamam ikhlas ‘abid baradar-i nadir al-zaman al-mashhadi Work of the completely sincere slave, ‘Abid, the brother of Nadir al-Zaman al-Mashhadi. shah jahani Of Shah Jahan abu’l-muzaffar shahab al-din muhammad sahib qiran-i thani shah jahan Abu’l-Muzaffar Shahab al-Din Muhammad, second Lord of the auspicious convergence (of Jupiter and Venus), Shah Jahan verso : Quatrain poem, roba’i, signed « by the humble and poor ‘Emad al-Hassani, that his sins and faults be forgiven». The Historical Context Shah Jahan ascends the throne of the Mughal Empire in 1628, after his father Jahangir and following a violent rivalry with his brothers. His reign is marked by the continuation of the military conquests initiated by his predecessors, and more especially the annexation of the Rajput kingdoms, followed, a few years later, by the conquest of the Deccan. The large extension of the Mughal empire during the reign of Shah Jahan brings him to endow the particular title “Sahib-e Qiran-i thani”, written in our painting on the parasol shading the emperor, in reference to the mythical conqueror, Alexander the Great, well known in the Indian tradition to have crossed the Indus river. Because of his military conquests in the Deccan, Shah Jahan spends a great deal of his time in Burhanpur, which becomes the empire capital city between 1630 and 1632. The painting offered here shows the emperor entering the city in 1630-31. This is where Mumtaz Mahal passes away in labour, after having given birth to their 14th child, in June 1631. Anne-Sophie Joncoux Pilorget - [email protected] - +33(0)1 4727 7671 Auctionneer : Millon.com December 2nd 2019, lot 366 Shah Jahan brings her body back to Agra where he commissioned the Taj Mahal to serve as her tomb. The emperor gets ill in 1658, causing a revolt among his descendants. Awrangzeb, his third son, takes the power in 1659 and imprisons his father in Agra Red Fort. Shah Jahan remains there until his death in 1666, before joining his late wife in the Taj Mahal. The Painter: ‘Abid (born c. 1590, active between 1604 and 1645) Born in the workshop of the imperial library, ‘Abid is the son of the Persian painter Aqa Riza, who joined the Mughal court in 1589. ‘Abid was maybe the greatest painter of Shah Jahan workshop that he joined around 1615. His talent for depicting the portraits of small and great men is respected by all, as we can observe in the foreground of our painting. His reputation only grows under Shah Jahan reign; under Jahangir, he was probably outshined by his father and his brother (Nadir al-Zaman al- Masshadi) who started his career under Akbar and gained great favour under the emperor. ‘Abid is particularly renowned for his scenes of court, procession and battle. He illustrates two pages of the Windsor Padshahnamah1, the official chronicles of Shah Jahan reign. Son of Aqa Riza, he was trained in the Safavid tradition that he honours in his illustration of Sa’di Bustan2. This legacy is also present in the painting we are offering, through the ornamentation of the Emperor’s elephant saddle pad, showing a classical scene of Persian painting. ‘Abid excels in complex compositions with rich assembly of noble men, or soldiers where each character is individualised. Results a keen sense of personality, as well as realism and an authenticity rarely seen in painting of that time. His signed works are rare, hence the particularly importance of our painting that joins his known corpus. According to Milo Beach, the first painting signed by ‘Abid dates from the second year of Shah Jahan reign, 1629-30. It is a page of the “Late Shah Jahan album”, nevertheless attributed to the Windsor Padshanamah3. Our painting dated of the third year of Shah Jahan reign corresponds to the year 1630-31. In consequence, it is the second work of the painter referenced. The third belongs to the Windsor Padshahnamah, and was produced around 16334. 'Abid also illustrates a later scene attributed to the Windsor Padshanamah, dated December 19, 1639, bearing the autograph signature of the painter5. A page attributed to ‘Abid is also mounted in the St Petersburg album and bears margins decorated with ornamental vines and birds very similar to ours. Assigned to the Windsor Padshanamah by Anatoly Ivanov6,the scene shows the capture of an Uzbek camp by the Mughal armies during the battle of Balkh in 1647, led by the young Awrangzeb. The precision of portraiture and the dynamism of the painting drive the attribution to ‘Abid7. The probable date of the painting, during or shortly after the battle, push further the painter chronology. The painting The precious information written by the painter specify that the event takes place during the third year of the emperor reign (1630-31) at Burhanpur. The presence of Shah Jahan three eldest sons, 1 F. 94b, “The death of Khan Jahan Lodi”, and f. 192b “Jahangir receiving Prince Khurram”. 2 Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian ,inv. n°LTS1995.2.190 3 M.Beach, King of the world, the Padshanamah, 1997, p.213. Shah Jahan Enthroned with Mahabat Khan and a Shaykh, from the Late Shah Jahan Album, dated 1629-1630. 4 F. 94b “The death of Khan Jahan Lodi“ refers to an event in February 1631. See Windsor Padshahnamah. 5 “Shah Jahan enthroned”, San Diego Museum of Art, acc. No. 1990 :0352 6 A. Ivanov, dans O. Akimushkin et alii ,1996, vol. I, p. 95. 7 E-14, fol. 54r, pl. 133. O. Akimushkin et alii, 1996. Anne-Sophie Joncoux Pilorget - [email protected] - +33(0)1 4727 7671 Auctionneer : Millon.com December 2nd 2019, lot 366 princes Dara Shokuh (sat behind the emperor waving the flyswatter), Shah Shuja’ and Awrangzeb (on the second elephant), and several court officials (in the foreground) evoke an imperial procession. The quality of the portraits allows us to identify Asaf Khan on his horse, father of Mumtaz Mahal, father-in-law of the emperor and prime minister. Shaykh Nazir (striped black and white jama) is also recognizable. On the right, we distinguish the door of a palace or the city of Burhanpur, and in the background a long golden wall, simulating the inlays in pietra dura typical of the sumptuous constructions realized during the reign of Shah Jahan, of which the Taj Mahal is the most beautiful example. The official chronicles of the emperor are narrated in the "Padshahnamah", literally "Chronicle of the Emperor ". Several versions of these chronicles exist, the most exhaustive being the version of Abdul Hamid Lahori written partly from the incomplete work of Qazvini and completed in 1648. Copied in refined calligraphy by Muhammad Amin al-Mashhadi, completed in 1657, this manuscript was sent in 1799 by the Nawab ofthe Awadh province to King George III of Great Britain, and is today preserved in the royal collections, hence its name of Royal Padshahnamah. It would be useful to refer to the text in order to identify more precisely the scene. In this exceptional manuscript are two paintings of 'Abid: folio 93v (the death of Khan Jahan Lodi) and folio 191v (Jahangir receiving Prince Khurram). If it is accepted that the 44 illustrations of Lahori Padshanamah were added to the text after its completion around 1657, thus establishing that the workshop drew from a stock of paintings previously produced and without any direct link, the connection to other paintings including three of 'Abid by Milo Beach8, and the fact that the manuscript of Lahori is incomplete, suggest that our painting was commissioned to illustrate an event described in the official chronicles. Our painting is added to this corpus. The calligrapher Mir 'Emad al-Hassani is one of the most famous Persian calligraphers of the seventeenth century by the amount of quatrains signed by his hand. Despite this, little information has been received about his life. We know from sources that he was born in Qazvin around 1553-1554 and died in 1615. Very young, he entered an apprenticeship with the calligrapher Malik Dailami († 1564-62), before leaving for Tabriz the year of the death of his master. He was then taken under the wing of Muhammad- Husain Tabrizi, another great calligrapher of his time. In 1573-74, Mir 'Emad was back in the capital, Qazvin where he continued his training with the master of nasta'liq,' Isa Beg Rangkar, and began to produce signed and dated works. At the end of his apprenticeship, Mir 'Emad became a traveling calligrapher, going from town to town to complete various commissions. In 1600, he went to Isfahan, named capital of Iran by Shah 'Abbas I two years earlier, and entered the service of the ruler. He worked at the shah's personal service for several years, surrounded himself with students and took a full part in court intrigues.
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