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Painting

1610-1615 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This depiction of an aged mulla was done by Farrokh Beg, an Iranian artist at the Mughal court. He arrived in Hindustan in 1585 and entered imperial service under the emperor Akbar (r.1556-1605). Two of his paintings are in the illustrated partial copy of the history of the reign now in the V&A.
His career in Hindustan has attracted a great deal of study, but facts concerning where he lived between about 1600 and about 1610 are scarce. This painting is inscribed in Persian in the recognisable hand of Jahangir (r.1605-1627): the work of Farrokh Beg in his 70th year.
The painting was inherited by Jahangir's son Shah Jahan on his accession, and new borders were added to it for inclusion in a royal album.

Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Painted in opaque watercolour and gold on paper
Brief description
Painting of an aged mulla by Farrokh Beg, opaque watercolour and gold on paper, Mughal, 1605-1627. The borders are filled with flowering plants painted in opaque water colour and gold
Physical description
Painting, in opaque watercolour and gold on paper, of an elderly mullah with a long white beard standing with his arms crossed at the wrists and slightly bent, in front of a tree in which two birds nest. He stands on a grassy mound on which grow flowers and a small willow tree. The margins of this page from an imperial Mughal album are filled with flowering plants painted in opaque water colour and outlined in gold.
Dimensions
  • Page height: 38.6cm
  • Page width: 25.1cm
  • Picture only height: 16.8cm
  • Picture only width: 11.1cm
Content description
An elderly man with a long white beard is depicted standing in front of a tree, with other flowering plants around him.
Style
Marks and inscriptions
(The Persian inscription in black ink is written on the ground of the painting at left in Jahangir's own hand.)
Translation
'painted by Farrukh Beg in his 70th year'
Transliteration
'raqam-e Farrukh Beg dar senn-e haftad-e salagi-ye keshide'
Gallery label
(2009)
An aged mulla
Opaque water colour and gold on paper
Mughal, inscribed in Persian: ‘the work of Farrokh Beg in his seventieth year’
c. 1610-20

IM.10-1925
From the Minto Album

Farrokh Beg arrived at the Mughal court from Iran in 1585 and his work was included in the Akbarnama where, unusually, he was given sole responsibility for a page rather than sharing it with one or two other artists. His work retains a distinctively Iranian quality as in this portrayal of a mulla, one learned in Islamic theology and religious law.

Object history
The folio is from a group of paintings acquired at auction in 1925 where they were sold as "The Minto Album" and subsequently divided between the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin and the V&A.
Subjects depicted
Summary
This depiction of an aged mulla was done by Farrokh Beg, an Iranian artist at the Mughal court. He arrived in Hindustan in 1585 and entered imperial service under the emperor Akbar (r.1556-1605). Two of his paintings are in the illustrated partial copy of the history of the reign now in the V&A.
His career in Hindustan has attracted a great deal of study, but facts concerning where he lived between about 1600 and about 1610 are scarce. This painting is inscribed in Persian in the recognisable hand of Jahangir (r.1605-1627): the work of Farrokh Beg in his 70th year.
The painting was inherited by Jahangir's son Shah Jahan on his accession, and new borders were added to it for inclusion in a royal album.
Associated object
IM.10A-1925 (Verso)
Bibliographic references
  • Susan Stronge, Painting For the Mughal Emperor. The art of the book 1560-1650, V&A Publications, plate 91, p. 126.
  • Irwin, John C., Indian Art, Victoria and Albert Museum, London: H. M. Stationery Office, 1968 pl. 35
Collection
Accession number
IM.10-1925

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Record createdApril 10, 2003
Record URL
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