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Painting

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

The painting, in opaque watercolour and gold on paper, shows Jahangir kneeling under a tree with a consort beside him and female musicians and attendants. The scene shows the group of figures on a terrace in front of a pillared pavilion within a walled enclosure with arches which reveal a wood beyond.
The Emperor, distinguished by his distinctive moustache and long inverted kiss-curl of hair twisted in front of his ear, is depicted kneeling on a rug with a multi-coloured floral arabesque pattern and a yellow border with floral decoration. On this are placed two gold bottles and a cup and two pomegranates on a golden dish set on a separate red-bordered and decorated cloth. Jahangir is shown with a red and gold shot turban bound with a string of pearls and a black aigrette with pearl tails. He is wearing a pale green jama with an overall pattern of golden motifs over which he has a short-sleeved long golden surcoat decorated with a half-drop pattern of scarlet flowers on leafy stems. A short florally decorated patka can be seen tied at his waist. He has a double row of pearls round his neck with the lower, longer row set with a large red spinel in the centre. He is shown placing his right hand over a gold cup, while he gently holds the right hand of the lady kneeling beside him.
She is dressed like the other young ladies, but her clothes are of a more costly appearance, her paijama being of gold with a purple floral decoration and her patka shown with a gold and red floral design. She wears a transparent dupatta with a gold edge and spots over her long hair. She, like the others wears pearl jewellery, but with the addition of green and red gem stones at her throat and in her earrings. All the ladies are wearing transparent white peshwaz. The painting reveals those of the two musicians and the principal lady as having long sleeves and lappets round the neck and bodice openings which meet a high waistline just below their busts from which hang gathered gauze skirts showing the coloured paijama beneath. These three have transparent odhini with gold edgings and gold polka dot patterning. The clapper and the serving attendant both have dupattas over their heads and upper bodies, as does the old woman holding a golden fan in the background. The two musicians are playing a vina and a double-ended drum.
The Emperor's rug is set upon a large floor covering. It has a pale green ground with a darker green border and fills most of the lower half of the painting. It is terminated by a low pink wall under which are two beds of yellow and white daisy-like flowers flanking a central flight of steps. The upper portion of the painting shows a pavilion with pink sloping eaves resting on reeded pillars with capitals that support branching brackets, the corner one of which is embellished with a carving of a goose. The white wall behind and balustrade above are decorated with a profusion of little floral motifs. A doorway is shown behind the Emperor with an orange and blue bordered ornamental blind. This is flanked by variously shaped wall niches containing a variety of golden vessels. A blue canopy with golden arabesques and a red valance is supported on slender gold poles over the monarch.
Beyond the pavilion there are two arches in a florally-decorated wall below two tiers respectively of pink and white panels. The openings reveal a wooded landscape which can also be seen above the top of the wall. A cloud-streaked sky with golden highlights completes the painting at the top edge.
The inner border is made up of two applied paper frames: the inner, narrow one in sage green decorated with a gold spiral and the main one in a faded pink-buff colour ornamented in gold with gold lines and black and white rulings. An outer ruled line in blue rests on the narrow main border which is of an ivory-white colour and is decorated with a row of alternate flowers in crimson and scarlet with gold outlines and detailing, in a similar fashion to the lily and poppy borders of most of the figurative paintings in the album. However, the flowers are of a different design and are unique to this border within the album. The margins of the page are painted in red over a former edging in pale blue outlined along its inner edge in white with an adjacent gold line. A crimson-coloured strip of paper has been added to the inner side on the left hand side of the page to act a gutter for the album binding.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Painted in opaque watercolour and gold on paper
Brief description
Painting, Small Clive Album p. 87, Jahangir with his consort and female attendants in a garden, opaque watercolour and gold on paper, Mughal, first half 18th century
Physical description
The painting, in opaque watercolour and gold on paper, shows Jahangir kneeling under a tree with a consort beside him and female musicians and attendants. The scene shows the group of figures on a terrace in front of a pillared pavilion within a walled enclosure with arches which reveal a wood beyond.
The Emperor, distinguished by his distinctive moustache and long inverted kiss-curl of hair twisted in front of his ear, is depicted kneeling on a rug with a multi-coloured floral arabesque pattern and a yellow border with floral decoration. On this are placed two gold bottles and a cup and two pomegranates on a golden dish set on a separate red-bordered and decorated cloth. Jahangir is shown with a red and gold shot turban bound with a string of pearls and a black aigrette with pearl tails. He is wearing a pale green jama with an overall pattern of golden motifs over which he has a short-sleeved long golden surcoat decorated with a half-drop pattern of scarlet flowers on leafy stems. A short florally decorated patka can be seen tied at his waist. He has a double row of pearls round his neck with the lower, longer row set with a large red spinel in the centre. He is shown placing his right hand over a gold cup, while he gently holds the right hand of the lady kneeling beside him.
She is dressed like the other young ladies, but her clothes are of a more costly appearance, her paijama being of gold with a purple floral decoration and her patka shown with a gold and red floral design. She wears a transparent dupatta with a gold edge and spots over her long hair. She, like the others wears pearl jewellery, but with the addition of green and red gem stones at her throat and in her earrings. All the ladies are wearing transparent white peshwaz. The painting reveals those of the two musicians and the principal lady as having long sleeves and lappets round the neck and bodice openings which meet a high waistline just below their busts from which hang gathered gauze skirts showing the coloured paijama beneath. These three have transparent odhini with gold edgings and gold polka dot patterning. The clapper and the serving attendant both have dupattas over their heads and upper bodies, as does the old woman holding a golden fan in the background. The two musicians are playing a vina and a double-ended drum.
The Emperor's rug is set upon a large floor covering. It has a pale green ground with a darker green border and fills most of the lower half of the painting. It is terminated by a low pink wall under which are two beds of yellow and white daisy-like flowers flanking a central flight of steps. The upper portion of the painting shows a pavilion with pink sloping eaves resting on reeded pillars with capitals that support branching brackets, the corner one of which is embellished with a carving of a goose. The white wall behind and balustrade above are decorated with a profusion of little floral motifs. A doorway is shown behind the Emperor with an orange and blue bordered ornamental blind. This is flanked by variously shaped wall niches containing a variety of golden vessels. A blue canopy with golden arabesques and a red valance is supported on slender gold poles over the monarch.
Beyond the pavilion there are two arches in a florally-decorated wall below two tiers respectively of pink and white panels. The openings reveal a wooded landscape which can also be seen above the top of the wall. A cloud-streaked sky with golden highlights completes the painting at the top edge.
The inner border is made up of two applied paper frames: the inner, narrow one in sage green decorated with a gold spiral and the main one in a faded pink-buff colour ornamented in gold with gold lines and black and white rulings. An outer ruled line in blue rests on the narrow main border which is of an ivory-white colour and is decorated with a row of alternate flowers in crimson and scarlet with gold outlines and detailing, in a similar fashion to the lily and poppy borders of most of the figurative paintings in the album. However, the flowers are of a different design and are unique to this border within the album. The margins of the page are painted in red over a former edging in pale blue outlined along its inner edge in white with an adjacent gold line. A crimson-coloured strip of paper has been added to the inner side on the left hand side of the page to act a gutter for the album binding.
Dimensions
  • Central painting height: 26.2cm
  • Central painting width: 14cm
  • Page height: 35.5cm
  • Page width: 23.5cm
Style
Marks and inscriptions
the numeral '44' is inscribed in pencil (top right hand corner of the page)
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 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.
Subjects depicted
Collection
Accession number
IS.48:44/A-1956

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Record createdJanuary 15, 2004
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