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Lot 81

An illustration to the Razmnama of 1616, attributed to Kamal: Drapaudi and her companions
Mughal, 1616-17

10 April 2008, 14:30 BST
London, New Bond Street

Sold for £6,000 inc. premium

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An illustration to the Razmnama of 1616, attributed to Kamal: Drapaudi and her companions
Mughal, 1616-17

gouache and gold on paper, verso 18 lines of text written in naskhi script in black ink within blue and gold margins, trimmed, in mount
200 x 218 mm.

Footnotes

The above lot is from a dispersed copy of the Razmnama, an abridged Persian translation of the Hindu epic poem the Mahabharata, originally commissioned by the Mughal emperor Akbar in 1582. There were two other prominent illustrated versions of this text done at this time, a dispersed copy (1598) and one of 1605. The present copy was dated AH 1025/AD 1616 and written in thirty-two lines of naskhi script and illustrated in a Mughal style with strong Hindu tendencies. Part of the artist Kamal's signature can be seen at the very edge of the sheet. The manuscript was commissioned by Abdul Rahim Khan, Khan-i Khanan, minister and commander under Akbar. Other examples from this manuscript from the Kevorkian collection were sold in sales at Sotheby's during the 1970s and 1980s.

For comparison see:
W. G. Archer, Indian Miniatures, London 1960, pl. 24.
M. F. Marcus, 'A page from a dated Razmnama', Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, January 1961, vol. 48, no. 1.
S. C. Welch, The Art of Mughal India, New York 1963, no. 33.

Additional information