Equestrian Portrait of Jahangir

Album folio; Equestrian Portrait of Jahangir; recto: single-page portrait, inscription consists of the name of Shah Jahangir in the margin; verso: two couplets from the Diwan of Hafiz; Persian in black nasta’liq script; corners embellished with triangular illuminated panels.
Border: The recto is set in gold and black rulings followed by a dark blue, gold-sprinkled frame, mounted on cream-colored paperboard. The verso is set in gold and black rulings in a dark blue, gold-sprinkled border, mounted on cream-colored paperboard.

View right to left

Historical period(s)
ca. 1900
Medium
Opaque watercolor and gold on paper
Dimensions
H x W: 35.5 x 27.3 cm (14 x 10 3/4 in)
Geography
India
Credit Line
Purchase — Smithsonian Unrestricted Trust Funds, Smithsonian Collections Acquisition Program, and Dr. Arthur M. Sackler
Collection
Arthur M. Sackler Collection
Accession Number
S1986.414
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Album, Painting
Type

Detached album folio with painting

Keywords
emperor, Henri Vever collection, horse, horseman, India, portrait
Provenance

From at least 1932
Indjoudjian Collection, Paris, from at least 1932 [1]

To 1942
Henri Vever (1854-1942), Paris and Noyers, France, to 1942 [2]

From 1942 to 1986
Family member, Paris and Boulogne, France, by inheritance from Henri Vever, Paris and Noyers, France [3]

From 1986
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, purchased from a family member, Paris and Boulogne, France [4]

Notes:

[1] The object is documented as having appeared in the Indjoudjian Collection by at least December 19, 1932. See Susan Nemazee, "Appendix 7: Chart of Recent Provenance" in An Annotated and Illustrated Checklist of the Vever Collection, Glenn D. Lowry et al (Washington, DC: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 1988), p. 410.

[2] See Glenn D. Lowry et al., An Annotated and Illustrated Checklist of the Vever Collection (Washington, DC: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 1988), p. 332, no. 400.

[3] See the Agreement for the Purchase and Sale of the Henri Vever Collection of January 9, 1986, Collections Management Office.

[4] See note 3.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Indjoudjian Freres
Henri Vever 1854-1942
Francois Mautin 1907-2003

Description

Album folio; Equestrian Portrait of Jahangir; recto: single-page portrait, inscription consists of the name of Shah Jahangir in the margin; verso: two couplets from the Diwan of Hafiz; Persian in black nasta'liq script; corners embellished with triangular illuminated panels.
Border: The recto is set in gold and black rulings followed by a dark blue, gold-sprinkled frame, mounted on cream-colored paperboard. The verso is set in gold and black rulings in a dark blue, gold-sprinkled border, mounted on cream-colored paperboard.

Inscription(s)

Stamps: blue-edged, 1367; inscription (S1986.414a): Shâh Jahângîr; inscription (S1986.414b); text: 2 lines (4 hemistiches) by Hafiz (injavi end., p. 78): Yâr mafurosh ba dunyâ ki basî sûd nakard/ ânki Yûsef ba zar-i nâsara bifrûkhta bûd/ Guft u khush guft biraw khirqa bisozân Hâfiz/ yâ rab în qalbshinâsi zi ki âmûkhta bûd? [Do not sell your friend out for the world/ for he who sold Joseph for filthy lucre did not gain much profit./ Thus he spoke, and how well he spoke when he said,/ "Go burn your devilish cloak, Hafiz."/ O Lord, from whom did he learn to read minds like this?]

Published References
  • Indjoudjian Freres. Publication title unknown. cat. 71.
  • Glenn D. Lowry, Milo Cleveland Beach, Elisabeth West FitzHugh, Susan Nemanzee, Janet Snyder. An Annotated and Illustrated Checklist of the Vever Collection. Washington and Seattle. cat. 400, p. 332.
Collection Area(s)
South Asian and Himalayan Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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