
Dora Tan
Head of Sale, Specialist
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Sold for US$21,562.50 inc. premium
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Head of Sale, Specialist

International Director
Formerly appointed by the Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah (r.1719-48) before the sacking of the capital, Delhi, by Nadir Shah in 1739, Muhammad Faqirullah Khan became one of the most celebrated émigré artists painting for provincial Mughal courts, such as Oudh. A well-published painting by Faqirullah Khan of A Visit to a Shrine, c.1740, is in the British Library (Losty & Roy, Mughal India, 2012, p.175, no.117). Another painting attributed to him is in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (M.2005.159). The present painting is from a Ragamala series of thirty-six, of which equal halves were painted by Faqirullah Khan and Fath Chand. Other folios from this album are published in Maggs Bros. Ltd., "Bulletin No.1", Dec. 1961, no.10; "Bulletin No.8", Feb. 1965, no.5, pl.xiii; and Binney, Indian Miniature Painting from the Collection of Edwin Binney 3rd, 1974, p.107, no.84.
Faqirullah Khan has spared no detail on the painted surface of his conventional rendering of lalita ragini. Even the stone-blue sky is peppered with stars receding as day breaks. A male lover sets off to depart from a passionate tryst, holding garland mementos and looking back at his sleeping ladylove. Both are dressed in fine transparent gauzes and gold-and-orange garments. The terrace is covered with a green and red floral carpet, the white palace is ornamented in gold, and in the background, cypresses rise behind flowering trees.
Published:
Maggs Bros. Ltd., "Bulletin No.8 - Ragamala Paintings and Eastern Music", February 1965, no.29, pl.xxv.
Provenance:
Sotheby's, London, 1 February 1960, lot 150a (part)
Maggs Bros. Ltd., London
Collection of F. S. Aijazuddin