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Not currently on display at the V&A

Painting

first half 17th century (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

The Persian and Turki verses on this page from a royal Mughal album are signed by its calligrapher, Mir 'Ali, and were probably done in Bukhara in the 1530s. The calligraphy came into the Mughal library and was illuminated by the court artist Daulat, who was in service to the emperor Jahangir (r. 1605-1627). He signed his work, which was probably done in the court atelier at Agra between about 1610 and 1615, in minuscule lettering on the gold ground within the borders at lower left. The panel would have been inherited by Jahangir's son, Shah Jahan, on his accession in 1628 and was incorporated into one of his albums, as demonstrated by the floral borders in a style which is typical of his reign.
The folio which has a portrait of Shah Jahan riding a horse in a landscape on the other side belonged to one of his albums. It was dismembered at an unknown date, and consigned with other folios for sale at Sotheby's, London, in 1925. The lot was described as the property of "a Nobleman", said at the time to have been Lord Minto.

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read The arts of the Mughal Empire The great age of Mughal art lasted from about 1580 to 1650 and spanned the reigns of three emperors: Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan. Hindu and Muslim artists and craftsmen from the northern regions of the Indian subcontinent worked with Iranian masters in the masculine environment of the r...

Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Painted in opaque watercolour and gold on paper
Brief description
Panel of calligraphy in horizontal lines, with interlinear illumination of flowers in opaque watercolour and gold on paper, borders and decoration Mughal, first half 17th century
Physical description
Album page of calligraphy signed by Mir 'Ali, illuminated with flowers over gold by Daulat who signed his work at the bottom of the panel, mounted within borders of flowering plants added during the reign of Shah Jahan.
Dimensions
  • Panel, no borders height: 21.7cm
  • Panel, no borders width: 12.8cm
  • Page height: 38.8cm
  • Page width: 26.6cm
Content description
Calligraphy panel.
Style
Object history
Page from an album assembled during the reign of Shah Jahan, incorporating a panel of 16th century calligraphy done in Bukhara by Mir Ali, illuminated by Jahangir's artist Daulat, who signed his work at the bottom of the calligraphic panel.
Subjects depicted
Summary
The Persian and Turki verses on this page from a royal Mughal album are signed by its calligrapher, Mir 'Ali, and were probably done in Bukhara in the 1530s. The calligraphy came into the Mughal library and was illuminated by the court artist Daulat, who was in service to the emperor Jahangir (r. 1605-1627). He signed his work, which was probably done in the court atelier at Agra between about 1610 and 1615, in minuscule lettering on the gold ground within the borders at lower left. The panel would have been inherited by Jahangir's son, Shah Jahan, on his accession in 1628 and was incorporated into one of his albums, as demonstrated by the floral borders in a style which is typical of his reign.
The folio which has a portrait of Shah Jahan riding a horse in a landscape on the other side belonged to one of his albums. It was dismembered at an unknown date, and consigned with other folios for sale at Sotheby's, London, in 1925. The lot was described as the property of "a Nobleman", said at the time to have been Lord Minto.
Associated object
Bibliographic references
  • Susan Stronge, Painting for the Mughal Emperor. The Art of the Book 1560-1650, V&A Publications, 2002, plate 135, p. 170. J.P. Losty, ‘Dating the Dara Shukuh Album: The Floral Evidence’, in Ebba Koch in collaboration with Ali Anooshahr, eds, The Mughal Empire from Jahangir to Shah Jahan. Art, Architecture, Politics, Law and Literature, Marg Publications, Mumbai 2019, pp 246-287. See Plate 7, p. 255.
  • Stronge, S. Made for Mughal Emperors. Royal Treasures from Hindustan. London and New York, 2010 p. 89, pl. 61
Collection
Accession number
IM.12A-1925

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Record createdSeptember 18, 2007
Record URL
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