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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1957.97
Title
Bird Trappers (painting, verso; text, recto), folio from a manuscript of the Baburnama (Memoirs of Emperor Babur)
Classification
Manuscripts
Work Type
manuscript folio
Date
c. 1590
Places
Creation Place: South Asia, India
Period
Mughal period
Culture
Indian
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/170157

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper; Mughal Style
Dimensions
24.77 x 13.97 cm (9 3/4 x 5 1/2 in.)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Friends of the Fogg Art Museum Fund
Accession Year
1957
Object Number
1957.97
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
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Descriptions

Description
The verso of the folio depicts a group of bird trappers engaged in various methods of capturing their prey. A figure, wearing saffron turban, brown shirt, and orange trousers stands in front of tree trying to capture birds from it. The tree is largely obscured by a rectangular cartouche containing a Persian inscription in black and nasta‘liq script and within a gold border. Behind a tree, hiding behind a camouflage screen of branches and leaves, is another figure, wearing a white turban and green robe (jama). He stalks a large group of flying birds and ducks. Below these figures are two men that are behind a camouflage screen of branches and stalking ducks near a serpentine creek and the birds perched in a nearby tree. One of the trappers holds a bird in his left hand. At the bottom of the page is a bird trapper wearing a white turban and green robe. He is also behind a camouflage screen of branches and leaves. He observes a group of birds caught in a netted trap. Directly above him is a rectangular cartouche containing a Persian inscription in black and nasta‘liq script and within a gold border. At the bottom left corner is a small square containing a Persian inscription in black and nasta‘liq script.

The recto of the folio contains fourteen lines of Persian prose executed in black ink and nasta‘liq script that is contained within gold borders. Mughal Style.

Publication History

  • Stuart Cary Welch, The Art of Mughal India: Painting & Precious Objects, exh. cat., Harry N. Abrams, Inc. and Asia Society Museum (New York, NY, 1963), p. 27, 163, no. 9, pl. 9

Exhibition History

  • Diverse are their Hues: Animals in Islamic Art, Harvard University Art Museums, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 12/18/1984 - 02/09/1985
  • The Ottomans and their Contemporaries, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 03/21/1992 - 05/17/1992
  • An Imperial Vision. The Art of Mughal India, 1526-1658, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 10/17/1992 - 12/06/1992
  • 32Q: 2590 South and Southeast Asia, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 05/14/2015 - 11/03/2015

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu