Painting
ca. 1612 (painted)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
The painting of a North American turkey cock (Meleagris gallopavo) done for the Mughal emperor Jahangir (r. 1605-1627) is a record of the arrival of this exotic bird at the court in 1612. Jahangir had asked his friend, the high-ranking noble Muqarrab Khan, to procure rarities of any kind at the port of Cambay, on the western coast, and in 1612 a consignment of exotic birds and animals caused a sensation. Jahangir recorded this in his memoirs, written in Persian. The English translation is by Alexander Rogers and Henry Beveridge: "as these animals appeared to me to be very strange, I both described them and ordered that painters should draw them in the Jahangir-nama ["Book of Jahangir", his memoirs], so that the amazement that arose from hearing of them might be increased. One of these animals in body is larger than a peahen and smaller than a peacock. When it is in heat and displays itself, it spreads out its feathers like the peacock and dances about. Its beak and legs are like those of a cock. Its head and neck and the part under the throat are every minute of a different colour. When it is in heat it is quite red - one might say it had adorned itself with red coral - and after a while it becomes white in the same places and looks like cotton. It sometimes looks of a turquoise colour. Like a chameleon it constantly changes colour." The painting, signed by the leading artist of the court Mansur, was preserved in an album, probably created during the reign of Jahangir when the floral borders were added to it. At an unknown date the album was dismembered, and this page was part of a group of folios bequeathed to the museum in 1921 by Lady Wantage.
Object details
Categories | |
Object type | |
Materials and techniques | Opaque watercolour and gold on paper |
Brief description | Painting, turkey cock, by Mansur, opaque watercolour and gold on paper, Mughal, ca. 1612 |
Physical description | Painting, in opaque watercolour and gold on paper, a turkey cock facing left, painted on a ground undecorated except for a line of flowers beneath its feet and streaks of clouds above. The artist's signature is beneath its wattle on the undecorated ground above the flowers. The painting is framed by bands of calligraphy above and beneath, and the page has borders of gold-painted flowering plants on undyed paper. |
Dimensions |
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Content description | A turkey cock facing left, painted on a ground undecorated except for a line of flowers beneath its feet and streaks of clouds above. The artist's signature is beneath its wattle on the undecorated ground above the flowers. The painting is framed by bands of calligraphy above and beneath, and the page has borders of gold-painted flowering plants on undyed paper. |
Styles | |
Marks and inscriptions | (This is the signature of the artist, not an attribution.)
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Credit line | Bequeathed by Lady Wantage |
Object history | Another version of this painting is in the Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II Museum, Jaipur: A.G. 839; others are in the Indian Museum Kolkata (R210) and Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge (PD 83-1948). Part of the bequest of the Right Honourable Harriet Sarah Baroness Wantage, of Locking House, Wantage Berks, widow of the first and last Baron Wantage, V.C., K.C.B., V.D. R.P. 1920-8342, 1920-5869, 1921-3081, 1921-177 |
Subjects depicted | |
Summary | The painting of a North American turkey cock (Meleagris gallopavo) done for the Mughal emperor Jahangir (r. 1605-1627) is a record of the arrival of this exotic bird at the court in 1612. Jahangir had asked his friend, the high-ranking noble Muqarrab Khan, to procure rarities of any kind at the port of Cambay, on the western coast, and in 1612 a consignment of exotic birds and animals caused a sensation. Jahangir recorded this in his memoirs, written in Persian. The English translation is by Alexander Rogers and Henry Beveridge: "as these animals appeared to me to be very strange, I both described them and ordered that painters should draw them in the Jahangir-nama ["Book of Jahangir", his memoirs], so that the amazement that arose from hearing of them might be increased. One of these animals in body is larger than a peahen and smaller than a peacock. When it is in heat and displays itself, it spreads out its feathers like the peacock and dances about. Its beak and legs are like those of a cock. Its head and neck and the part under the throat are every minute of a different colour. When it is in heat it is quite red - one might say it had adorned itself with red coral - and after a while it becomes white in the same places and looks like cotton. It sometimes looks of a turquoise colour. Like a chameleon it constantly changes colour." The painting, signed by the leading artist of the court Mansur, was preserved in an album, probably created during the reign of Jahangir when the floral borders were added to it. At an unknown date the album was dismembered, and this page was part of a group of folios bequeathed to the museum in 1921 by Lady Wantage. |
Bibliographic references |
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Collection | |
Accession number | IM.135-1921 |
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Record created | December 15, 1999 |
Record URL |
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