1999.295: A Mughal and a Rajput Converse at Dusk

Identification and Creation

Object Number

1999.295

People

Attributed to Basawan, Indian (16th century)

Title

A Mughal and a Rajput Converse at Dusk

Classification

Paintings

Work Type

painting

Date

late 16th century

Places

Creation Place: South Asia, India

Period

Mughal period

Culture

Mughal

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/217186

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Opaque watercolor and gold on paper

Dimensions

20.3 x 11.5 cm (8 x 4 1/2 in.)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Stuart Cary Welch, Jr.

Accession Year

1999

Object Number

1999.295

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Contact

am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Permissions

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Descriptions

Description

Under a red canopy in a gated, outdoor setting, are two figures in conversation. On the left is a Mughal who sits with his legs folded under him. He wears a blue and gold turban, a brown robe (jama), and a waist sash (patka). Tucked into his sash is a punch dagger (katar). His right hand is raised in conversation. The attendant behind the Mughal, dressed in a purple robe and turban, holds a white scarf above the Mughal’s head, denoting his royal status. However, the identity of the Mughal figure remains uncertain. He is receiving visitation from a Rajput, identifiable by his turban, facial hair, and darker complexion. He wears long-stranded necklaces, a seafoam green robe, and a patterned waist sash. He sits on a floral carpet with his legs also folded under him. The background is filled with large trees and flowers.

Publication History

• Stuart Cary Welch, "Early Mughal Miniature Paintings From Two Private Collections Shown at the Fogg Art Museum", Ars Orientalis; The Arts of Islam and the East, Freer Gallery of Art / Smithsonian Institution (Washington, D.C., 1959), Vol. 3, 133 - 146, Plate 10/Figure 15
• 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.164, no. 16, pl. 16
• Howard Hodgkin and Terence McInerney, Indian Drawing : An Exhibition Chosen by Howard Hodgkin, exh. cat., Arts Council of Great Britain, London (London, England, 1983), Figure 31
• Naveen Patnaik and Stuart Cary Welch, A Second Paradise: Indian Courtly Life, 1590-1947, Doubleday & Co. (Garden City, NY, 1985), page 40, 179/figure 2

Exhibition History

• Portraiture in Iran and India, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 12/09/1983 - 02/01/1984
• Five Masters of Persian and Indian Painting, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 01/11/1992 - 03/09/1992
• Earthly Paradise: Gardens in Islamic Art, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 05/08/1993 - 08/22/1993
• Courts and Countryside: Islamic Paintings from the 14th through the 17th Century, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 05/21/1999 - 08/22/1999
• A Sea in a Jug: The Welch Collection of Art from the Islamic World and Later South Asia, Colby College Museum of Art, 02/20/2020 - 11/01/2020

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