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Not currently on display at the V&A

Painting

1650-1750 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Painting, in opaque watercolour on paper, a well-dressed noble youth sits at ease on a rock by a small brook under a tree listening to a kneeling man who is singing from a book. The youth is dressed in a vibrant plain orange jama with golden lappets decorated in a crimson running pattern under his right arm. He wears a short golden patka with bands of red and green decoration with black interlaced patterning at the ends. He is bare footed with golden paijama decorated with a pattern of red flowers. His dark hair is swept up into a red turban with black and gold bands. He is wearing pearl earrings, a pearl necklace and a large pendant red gem with a pearl. He holds a small golden book in his left be-ringed hand.
The singer is dressed in simple clothes with a white tunic, black cummerband over baggy brown trousers. He has a beard and a drooping moustache. He wears a loosely-wound red turban. In his left hand he holds an open red-covered book.
Two yellow birds with red pointed beaks sit in the feathery-leafed tree which grows out of the rock, the form of which is painted in pink and brown washes with delicate green brushwork to indicate undergrowth. The tree is shown against a sandy-brown background which rises up and merges into a blue sky with no clear horizon.
The painting is framed in pale brown paper decorated with a running stylised foliate design in gold between white, black and outer dark blue outlines. The border design of lilies and poppies is similar to that in IS.48/3B-1956, which has a similar, but not exactly the same brown inner frame. The margins of the page have strips of buff-coloured paper inscribed with a white line along the inner edge. An additional strip of pale brown paper has been stuck along the left hand edge of the page to act as a gutter for the album binding.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Painted in opaque watercolour on paper
Brief description
Painting, Small Clive Album p. 19, nobleman and singer, opaque watercolour on paper, Mughal, 1650-1750
Physical description
Painting, in opaque watercolour on paper, a well-dressed noble youth sits at ease on a rock by a small brook under a tree listening to a kneeling man who is singing from a book. The youth is dressed in a vibrant plain orange jama with golden lappets decorated in a crimson running pattern under his right arm. He wears a short golden patka with bands of red and green decoration with black interlaced patterning at the ends. He is bare footed with golden paijama decorated with a pattern of red flowers. His dark hair is swept up into a red turban with black and gold bands. He is wearing pearl earrings, a pearl necklace and a large pendant red gem with a pearl. He holds a small golden book in his left be-ringed hand.
The singer is dressed in simple clothes with a white tunic, black cummerband over baggy brown trousers. He has a beard and a drooping moustache. He wears a loosely-wound red turban. In his left hand he holds an open red-covered book.
Two yellow birds with red pointed beaks sit in the feathery-leafed tree which grows out of the rock, the form of which is painted in pink and brown washes with delicate green brushwork to indicate undergrowth. The tree is shown against a sandy-brown background which rises up and merges into a blue sky with no clear horizon.
The painting is framed in pale brown paper decorated with a running stylised foliate design in gold between white, black and outer dark blue outlines. The border design of lilies and poppies is similar to that in IS.48/3B-1956, which has a similar, but not exactly the same brown inner frame. The margins of the page have strips of buff-coloured paper inscribed with a white line along the inner edge. An additional strip of pale brown paper has been stuck along the left hand edge of the page to act as a gutter for the album binding.
Dimensions
  • Central painting height: 13.5cm
  • Central painting width: 9.5cm
  • Page height: 35.5cm
  • Page width: 23.5cm
Style
Marks and inscriptions
numeral '10' (inscribed in pencil on the top right hand border)
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. The silk may have been cut from lengths brought home by the 2nd Lord Clive who served as Governor of Madras 1799-1803. The album was sold from Powis Castle at Sotheby's sale, 16-18 January 1956, lot 332A.
Subjects depicted
Collection
Accession number
IS.48:10/A-1956

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Record createdOctober 9, 2003
Record URL
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