Enrica Medugno
Senior Sale Coordinator
Lot 189
The Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb (reg. 1658-1707) at a jharoka window Mughal, attributed to Mir Muhammad Isfahani, circa 1710-20
23 May 2023, 11:00 BST
London, New Bond StreetSold for £5,120 inc. premium
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Oliver White
Head of Department
The Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb (reg. 1658-1707) at a jharoka window
Mughal, attributed to Mir Muhammad Isfahani, circa 1710-20
Mughal, attributed to Mir Muhammad Isfahani, circa 1710-20
gouache and gold on paper, inscribed at top in nagari script shahayari [?], blue border with stylised floral motifs in gold, inscribed on the reverse in nasta'liq script
173 x 124 mm.
173 x 124 mm.
Footnotes
The inscription on the reverse reads: 'amal-i Mir Muhammad Isfahani [with the posthumous name for 'Alamgir], Hazrat Khuld Makani.
The Emperor Aurangzeb (born 1618, reigned 1658-1707) was also known by his regnal title 'Alamgir (Conqueror of the World). He is often presented hunched, in old age, but here appears at a jharokha window in a white marble tower. A number of examples are known with Aurangzeb in this pose, including one in the British Museum (1920.0917.0.12.40); the Cleveland Museum of Art (1944.498); and the San Diego Museum of Art (1990.366), where the composition includes two guards standing at ground level.
A painting of circa 1700 depicting Aurangzeb in old age in a similar pose reading a Qur'an at a jharokha window is in the Johnson Album 2, no. 2, at the British Library in London (see T. Falk, M. Archer, Indian Miniatures in the India Office Library, London 1981, pp. 99 and 417, no. 138 (ii); J. P. Losty, M. Roy, Mughal India: Art, Culture and Empire, London 2012, p. 159, fig. 101). They observe that such window portraits are obviously not royal commissions, since in his eleventh regnal year (1668-1669) Aurangzeb abolished the daily practice of darshan, the public viewing of the emperor at the jharokha window, which he considered idolatrous.
A seal impression on the back of the painting is that of Naqabat Khan, Najm al-Daula Zafar Jang Bahadur, dated AH 1166/AD 1752-1753, and a note in the inscription records that Naqabat Khan is the owner of the painting. Naqabat Khan, a nobleman probably from the Deccan, of whom we have little information other than the fact that he was known for possessing a good library in the 18th Century, was also the owner of a Mughal painting, circa 1600-10, depicting Akbar and his master builder (see Simon Ray, Indian and Islamic Works of Art, November 2017, cat. no. 26), which has an almost identical square seal impression bearing his name.