Important Notice

  Lot 9 of 22  

INDIAN MINIATURE PAINTINGS AND WORKS OF ART
24-25 APRIL 2013
Estimate
$3,000 - 5,000
Rs 1,56,000 - 2,60,000


Winning Bid
$3,600
Rs 1,87,200
(Inclusive of Buyer's Premium)

USD payment only. Why?

DETAILS

Two Nawabs Seated in Front of a Murshidabad Ruler

Opaque Watercolour heightened with gold on paper

Murshidabad, mid 18th century

8.5 x 6.5 in (21.25 x 16.25 cm)
This miniature possibly depicts Nawab Mir Qasim Khan (r. 1760-1763).The figures dressed dominantly in white are a typical characteristic of the Murshidabad School. The two Nawabs can be identified from the inscriptions on the lower right as Nawab Mohammad Ali Khan Bahadur and Nawab Ghulam Mohammad Khan Bahadur.

The centre of provincial government was transferred from Dacca to Murshidabad by Nawab Murshid Quli Khan (r. 1703-1727) in 1704, hence the name Murshidabad. The city soon became the centre of Muslim government for Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, and a school for provincial Mughal painting was quickly established there. It flourished until the end of the eighteenth century before European patronage began to influence the artists, hailing the arrival of the Company School style.

For further discussion see T. Falk and M. Archer, Indian Miniatures in the India Office Library, London, 1981, pp.192-210.

Two Nawabs visiting a Ruler

Category: Antiquty