Painting, Small Clive Album p. 76, pink roses, opaque watercolour on paper, Mughal, possibly Avadh, first half 18th century

The painting, in opaque watercolour on paper, shows a branch of a rose bush with two crimson blooms, one frontal and one shown from behind and a single bud. The spray is painted on a plain paper off-white ground with the modelling achieved by loose hatchings in darker tones and watercolour washes. The image is framed with a plain inner border of strips of pale ochre-coloured paper with lines ruled in black against the plain ivory-coloured ground of the page. The margins of the page have strips of dark grey paper with black rules lines and there is a strip of beige woven textile attached to the inner margin to act as a gutter for the album binding.

Gift of Mr. John Goelet

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 silk that 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.

This study of pink roses is included in the "Small Clive Album", a volume of Indian paintings which is thought to have been given by Shuja ad-Daula, the Nawab of Avadh, to Lord Clive during his last visit to India in 1765-67. It contains 56 folios on which are Mughal paintings, drawings and flower studies dating to the 17th and 18th centuries. The binding is covered with an Indian brocade. The album was given to the museum by Mr John Goelet in 1956.

IS.48:38/B-1956