The Kuzzelbash of Kabul
Watercolour
1836 (painted)
1836 (painted)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Murtaza Khan, the head of a family of the Qizilbash tribe, met Vigne near Ghazni and accompanied him to Kabul. His tough, swarthy features make a striking contrast with the pale skin and meek demeanour of his young and beautiful bride. [See her portrait, SD.1117.] The pair of drawings are two of a large group of Persian, Afghan and Indian portraits and landscapes (now mainly in the Searight Collection, the India Office Library and the Royal Geographical Society) that were done by Vigne during his long journey, between 1832 and 1839, through Turkey and Persia to India, and thence northwards to the Western Himalayas and later Afghanistan. Vigne published an account of his Afghanistan trip in A Personal Narrative of a Visit to Ghuzni, Kabul, and Afghanistan (1840). A further visit made by Vigne to the Near East in 1843-44 is also represented by drawings in the Searight Collection.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Title | The Kuzzelbash of Kabul (assigned by artist) |
| Materials and techniques | Pencil, pen and ink, and watercolour |
| Brief description | Watercolour, `The Kuzzelbash of Kabul', 1836, by Godfrey Thomas Vigne FRGS |
| Physical description | Watercolour drawing |
| Dimensions |
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| Styles | |
| Marks and inscriptions | Inscribed with title and number 23, and Mortazeh Khan Kuzzelbash Servant of Nawab Jubar Khan aged 60. Cabul and date 16th. July 1839 (Although the watercolour was painted in 1836, a later date of 1839 has been inscribed on the back.) |
| Credit line | Purchased with the assistance of the National Heritage Memorial Fund, Art Fund, Shell International and the Friends of the V&A |
| Object history | According to Rodney Searight: - `acquired from Henry D'Olier Vigne, great-nephew of the artist, May 1971, £200'. [with SD.1087- SD.1100, SD.1103 & 1104: SD.1105-1117, SD.1119-SD.1125, SD.1127-1130, SD.1132-1134, SD.1137-1138, SD.1150, SD.1153] |
| Historical context | Head of a Kuzzelbash (Kizilbash) family who met Vigne near Ghazni and accompanied him to Kabul: see Vigne, A Personal Narrative of a Visit to Ghuzni, Kabul, And Afghanistan ..., 1840, p.116-7. On the `Kuzzelbash' tribe, see pp.167-8. Cf. sketches in album in India Office Library and Records (WD.3110 f.39f, 40a-d). |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Places depicted | |
| Summary | Murtaza Khan, the head of a family of the Qizilbash tribe, met Vigne near Ghazni and accompanied him to Kabul. His tough, swarthy features make a striking contrast with the pale skin and meek demeanour of his young and beautiful bride. [See her portrait, SD.1117.] The pair of drawings are two of a large group of Persian, Afghan and Indian portraits and landscapes (now mainly in the Searight Collection, the India Office Library and the Royal Geographical Society) that were done by Vigne during his long journey, between 1832 and 1839, through Turkey and Persia to India, and thence northwards to the Western Himalayas and later Afghanistan. Vigne published an account of his Afghanistan trip in A Personal Narrative of a Visit to Ghuzni, Kabul, and Afghanistan (1840). A further visit made by Vigne to the Near East in 1843-44 is also represented by drawings in the Searight Collection. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | SD.1118 |
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| Record created | April 21, 2008 |
| Record URL |
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