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Not currently on display at the V&A

two men seated in a landscape

Painting
18th century (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

The painting, in opaque watercolour and gold on paper, shows two men seated on the ground in a landscape. They sit among little clumps of green plants behind which rises a hilly and wooded landscape in front of a stretch of water. In the far distance white buildings including a bridge and a minaret are seen between a row of rounded hills set against a golden sunset rising to a blue sky under which flocks of birds in wavy skeins are seen flying. Boats with schematic figures and a number of swimming deer have been painted on the water and a group of buildings on the left side of the the hills in the middle distance have been sketched in.
The men are similarly dressed in white robes buttoned down the front with large shawls spread around them. The older darker-skinned man on the left has an orange shawl with gold patterning while his younger, fairer companion has a pink shawl with gold flecks. Both have rounded striped turbans wound round a respectively dark pink and red circular core.
The lower edge of the painting has a blue inner border decorated with a gold foliated scroll. As a whole the painting is framed with a pinky-brown strip of collaged paper decorated with a foliated and floral scrolling pattern outlined in white with a further gold line and outer dark blue outline which is ruled on the main border..
The outer border has an ivory-coloured ground and is decorated with alternate red poppies and pink lilies picked out in gold. The margins of the page, which are now in a somewhat abraded condition, have strips of red paper collaged to them with a white ruled line along the inner edge There are also remnants of a gold line on the border next to these red paper strips. A further strip of plain crimson paper has been stuck on the right hand edge to act as a gutter for the album binding.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Titletwo men seated in a landscape (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Painted in opaque watercolour and gold on paper
Brief description
Painting, Small Clive Album p. 18, seated figures in landscape, opaque watercolour and gold on paper, Mughal, 18th century
Physical description
The painting, in opaque watercolour and gold on paper, shows two men seated on the ground in a landscape. They sit among little clumps of green plants behind which rises a hilly and wooded landscape in front of a stretch of water. In the far distance white buildings including a bridge and a minaret are seen between a row of rounded hills set against a golden sunset rising to a blue sky under which flocks of birds in wavy skeins are seen flying. Boats with schematic figures and a number of swimming deer have been painted on the water and a group of buildings on the left side of the the hills in the middle distance have been sketched in.
The men are similarly dressed in white robes buttoned down the front with large shawls spread around them. The older darker-skinned man on the left has an orange shawl with gold patterning while his younger, fairer companion has a pink shawl with gold flecks. Both have rounded striped turbans wound round a respectively dark pink and red circular core.
The lower edge of the painting has a blue inner border decorated with a gold foliated scroll. As a whole the painting is framed with a pinky-brown strip of collaged paper decorated with a foliated and floral scrolling pattern outlined in white with a further gold line and outer dark blue outline which is ruled on the main border..
The outer border has an ivory-coloured ground and is decorated with alternate red poppies and pink lilies picked out in gold. The margins of the page, which are now in a somewhat abraded condition, have strips of red paper collaged to them with a white ruled line along the inner edge There are also remnants of a gold line on the border next to these red paper strips. A further strip of plain crimson paper has been stuck on the right hand edge to act as a gutter for the album binding.
Dimensions
  • Central painting height: 19.6cm
  • Central painting width: 12.5cm
  • Page height: 35.5cm
  • Page width: 23.5cm
Style
Credit line
Gift of Mr. John Goelet
Object history
This miniature painting is part of the Small Clive Album of Indian miniatures which is thought to have been given by Shuja ud-Daula, the Nawab of Avadh, to Lord Clive during his last visit to India in 1765-67. It contains 56 leaves on which are Mughal miniature paintings, drawing and flower studies on both sides. The binding is covered with an Indian brocade, which may have been cut from lengths brought home by the 2nd Lord Clive who served as Governor of Madras, 1799 to 1803. The album was sold from Powis Castle at Sotheby's sale, 16 to 18 January 1956, lot 332A.
Collection
Accession number
IS.48:9/B-1956

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Record createdOctober 9, 2003
Record URL
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