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opposite detail of cat .4

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opposite detail from cat.25

Two folios from a Sanskrit manuscript of the Ashtasahasrika Prajnaparamita (The Perfection of Wisdom in 8000 Verses)

Buddhist illuminated manuscripts of the Perfection of Wisdom and similar Mahayana texts come from the great monasteries of eastern India (and also from monasteries in Nepal) in the 11th and 12th centu-ries. The miniatures, of the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and other divinities both beneficent and terrifying were added to the texts not to illustrate the text but for protective purposes and to gain merit for the donors.

In our manuscript the line is clear and the action depicted for energetic divinities exceptionally vivid. The divinities themselves are represented in accord with the modelled ideals of the classical Pala style found in Bihar (associated with the great Pala dynasty), although the shrines and backgrounds differ, suggesting perhaps that the artists have also been influenced by Bengali tradition (see Losty 1989A and Losty 1989B), perhaps in a monastery on the border between the provinces such as Vikramashila.

Our two folios were formerly in the Heeramaneck collection (The Arts of India 1966, no. 117) and other folios are now in the Los Angeles County Museum (Pal 193, no. 8), the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (Dye 2001, no. 65). Others are in the J.D. Rockefeller 3rd collection in the Asia Society Museum, New York, (Pal and Meech-Pekarik 1988, pl. 10, fig. 21).

The Bodhisattva SamantabhadraFolio from a Sanskrit manuscript in Kutila script on palm leaves of the Ashtasahasrika Prajnaparamita (The Perfection of Wisdom in 8000 Verses) Pala period, Bihar or Bengal, c. 1130-60Opaque pigments on palm leavesFolio 6.5 x 44 cm

Here we see Samantabhadra, one of the 18 great Bodhisattvas of the Vajrayana Buddhist tradition. He is depicted sitting cross-legged on a lotus seat wearing a jewelled tiara, his right arm disposed gracefully across his body holding what seems to be a vajra (thunderbolt), his left hand resting on his thigh holding the stem of a blue utpala lotus.

ProvenanceNasli Heeramaneck (1902-1971) collection

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The Goddess Mahasitavati Folio from a Sanskrit manuscript in Kutila script on palm leaves of the Ashtasahasrika Prajnaparamita (The Perfection of Wisdom in 8000 Verses) Pala period, Bihar or Bengal, c. 1130-60 Opaque pigments on palm leavesFolio 6.5 x 44 cm

Mahashitavati is one of the Raksha goddesses, the five goddesses who are invoked for protection from various evils. Here she is red in colour with three faces (subsidiary ones in white and blue) and has six arms. The lower pair are in vajrahumkara mudra, and the others hold a discus (cakra), thunderbolt (vajra), sword and a jewel or possibly a bell. She sits on a lotus throne within a shrine, surrounded by a grove of palm trees interspersed with white birds. The Bo-dhisattvas Manjushri and Avalokiteshvara are represented in the end margins of the folio and lotuses decorate the string holes.

ProvenanceNasli Heeramaneck (1902-1971) collection

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Rustam takes aim at AshkabusFolio from the Jainesque Sultanate ShahnamaSultanate India, c. 1450Folio 31.8 x 25.6 cm; Painting 13.7 x 20.5 cm

This episode takes place following Rustam’s arrival at the beleaguered Iranian camp atop Mt. Hamavan. In the ensuing battle, a mighty Turanian called Ashkabus challenges an Iranian to battle; Rustam steps forward on foot to take up the challenge. Ashkabus showers Rustam with arrows. Un-harmed, Rustam draws his bow, dispatching first Ashkabus’ steed and then the warrior himself.

This manuscript of the Persian epic Shahnama first appeared on the mar-ket, incomplete, in the 1980s (published Goswamy 1988 & 2011). The Rietberg Museum acquired 20 folios as well as a folio with late 17th cen-tury seal impressions. Other folios can also be found in the Museum fur Asiatische Kunst, Berlin, the Musee Guimet, Paris, the David Collection, Copenhagen, the Freer and Sackler Gallery, Washington DC, the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco and the Bellak collection in Philadelphia Mu-seum of Art .

The importance of the manuscript rests in its unique treatment of a Persian classic text illustrated by an artist steeped in the Jain and Hindu Western Indian traditions.

For detailed discussion of this whole Sultanate period and its manuscripts, see Khandalavala and Chandra 1969, supplemented by Losty 1982, ch. 2 and Brac de la Perrière 2008. The actual place of production of all these manuscripts is still a matter of scholarly debate, but Gujarat or Mandu seem the most likely for this Shahnama manuscript.

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Abu’l Fazl in his A’in-i Akbari records that Akbar ordered an album of portraits to be prepared at a time when portraiture was an art in its in-fancy in the Mughal court. His interest was awakened by seeing many examples of European portraiture mostly in print form. The great and the good at court were thus recorded for posterity (Stronge 2002, pp. 100-02; Losty and Roy 2012, pp. 75-78), as well as many of lesser rank. Abu’l Fazl seems to be referring to the album being started in the 1590s, which appears to be the date of most such portraits. None-theless there are earlier examples of portraits done in the Mughal stu-dio such as this one, where the subjects wear somewhat old-fashioned dress as in our man’s chakdar jama, at a time when it was going out of fashion in favour of the round-bottomed jama. For others see Brand and Lowry 1985, nos. 47-55, who suggest that several albums could have been produced from about 1574 onwards as visual equivalents to the establishment of the Records Office. A portrait of Raja Rai Singh of Bikaner c. 1590 in a private collection is close to ours in composi-tion (ibid., no. 47), althogh the Raja’s head is in three-quarter profile.

ProvenanceMilo Cleveland Beach Stuart Cary Welch

A swordbearer - from an Imperial portrait album Mughal, c. 1590Opaque pigments with gold and silver on paperFolio 24.9 x 14.6 cm; Painting 10 x 8 cm

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Babur receives an envoy from Uzun Hasan when lying sick in 1497Folio from the First Baburnama Imperial Mughal, made for Emperor Akbar, 1589–90Opaque pigments, ink and gold on paperFolio 30.3 x 19.5 cm; Painting 20.7 x 12.5 cm

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The memoirs of Babur, founder of the Mughal empire, are known as the Baburnama, and are among the most interesting of pre-modern autobio-graphical books. His grandson Emperor Akbar oversaw its translation into Persian and illustration by his court artists. This painting shows a servant of the Aqqoyunlu ruler Uzun Hasan being admitted to the presence of the sick Babur in the year 1497. Just after Babur had taken Samarkand in 1497, he became very sick and was lying near death’s door for four days. During this time the rebel Uzun Hasan laid siege to Babur’s old capital of Andijan and took it. The begs were each seeking their own advantage in this perilous situation and accordingly admitted the rebel’s messenger into Babur’s chamber (Beveridge translation of the Baburnama, pp. 86–87; Thackston translation, pp. 64–65).

This First Baburnama was dispersed in a sale in London in 1913, through the bookseller Luzac. Twenty folios are in the V&A (Stronge 2002, pp. 86–91). Other groups of leaves are in the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington and the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin. At least three more illustrated manuscripts based on this first version were produced within the next ten years, which are now in the British Library (Suleiman 1970); divided between the Moscow State Museum of Eastern Cultures and the Walters Art Gallery Baltimore; and in the National Museum. New Delhi (Randhawa 1983).

ProvenanceLudwig Habighorst collectionLuzac & Co, London, 1913

The miniature illustrates an event from the early part of Babur’s mem-oirs while he was still a youth in his home area of Farghana where local chiefs were struggling with one another for land and authority.

‘For some years, Aba-bikr Kashgari Dughlat, bowing the head to no-one, had been supreme in Kashgar Khutan. He now, moved like the rest by desire for my country, came to the neighbourhood of Auzkint [Uzgend], built a fort and began to lay waste the land. Khwaja Qazi and several begs were appointed to drive him out. When they came near, he saw himself no match for such a force, made the Khwaja his mediator and, by a hundred wiles and tricks, got himself safely free.’ (Beveridge, p. 32)

The spontaneity, simplicity and forthright vigour of the paintings from the first copy of the Baburnama are far more in keeping with the text than are the more complex ornate paintings of the manuscripts that followed. Three later Baburnamas are dispearsed between museums in London, Moscow, Baltimore and New Delhi. ProvenanceSotheby’s, 7th April 1975 (lot 97)Hagop Kevorkian, New York (1872–1962)Luzac & Co, London, 1913

Battle between Khwaja Qazi and Aba-bikr at Uzgend in 1493-4Folio from the First Baburnama Imperial Mughal, made for Emperor Akbar, c. 1589Opaque pigments with gold on paperFolio 26.5 x 15.5 cm; Painting 24.9 x 13.5 cm

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A double page in the V&A’s Akbarnama depicts this same battle (Stronge 2002, pl. 36) with imperial troops pursuing Gujarati rebels in a similarly distinctive landscape with lines of thorn bushes. In both the V&A’s right-hand page, ascribed to La’l, and our page, the Em-peror Akbar is clearly identified by the aigrette finial to his helmet and his place at the centre of the painting, surrounded by a ring of fighting warriors.

This so-called Third Akbarnama is thought to have been commis-sioned for Emperor Akbar’s mother, Hamida Banu Begam (c. 1527-1604).

The Akbarnama (‘Book of Akbar’), chronicles the reign of the most dynamic of the Mughal Emperors, Akbar (b. 1542, r. 1556–1605). He commissioned his court historian and biographer Abu’l Fazl to write about his life and times. Imperial court artists later illustrated this biography and three versions are known, ours being the Second but called the Third, since it was the most recently discovered.

The battle of Sarnal in Gujarat in December 1572 Page from the Third Akbarnama Imperial Mughal, 1595-1600Opaque pigments with gold on paperFolio 36 × 23.5 cm; Painting 33 × 20.50 cm

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This delicate and refined painting, published by John Seyller in his chapter on this artist in Masters of Indian Painting (2011), is an exam-ple of Govardhan’s early work when still under the influence of his tu-tor Manohar. Both Govardhan and Manohar were important painters in the Imperial Mughal atelier. The painting was once in the Imperial library, from the time of Shah Jahan, to which seals on the verso bear witness.

ProvenanceLudwig Habighorst collection

PublishedC.-P. Haase, J. Kröger, and U. Lienert, Oriental Splendour (Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg, 1993), no. 186L. Habighorst, P. Reichart, and V. Sharma, Love for Pleasure (Koblenz, 2007), fig. 48L. Habighorst, ‘Hierarchie und Module’, Tribus: Jahrbuch des Linden-Muse-ums Stuttgart 55 (2006): 53-65L. Habighorst, ‘Hierarchy and Models – Some Notes on Shaikhs in Mughal Painting’, pl. 4.1. In Usha Bhatia, Amar Nath Khanna, and Vijay Sharma, eds., The Diverse World of Indian Painting. Essays in Honour of Dr. Vishwa Chander Ohri (New Delhi: Aryan Books, 2009): 29–35L. Habighorst, Blumen – Bäume – Göttergärten in indischen Miniaturen (Kob-lenz: Ragaputra Edition, 2011), fig. 75J. Seyller, ‘Govardhan’, in Milo C. Beach, Eberhart Fischer, and B.N. Goswa-my, eds., Masters of Indian Painting, 1100-1900, vol. I (Zürich: Artibus Asiae, 2011), fig. 10, p. 368

A Prince converses with a sageImperial Mughal, attributed to Govardhan, 1605-08Brush drawing with wash and some opaque pigments with gold on paperFolio 22 x 13.6cm; Painting 15.3 x 9cm

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A mughal courtierImperial Mughal, attributed to Chitarman, c. 1660Brush drawingFolio 39 x 26.7 cm; Drawing 15.7 x 10.4 cm

A Mughal official with a medium length beard and a rounded turban stands facing right with his hands outstretched. His head and beard are more finished than the rest of him which is just drawn in with an exquisite sureness of line.

Comparable examples in the Johnson Collection include drawings of Islam Khan Rumi ascribed to Chitarman (Falk and Archer 1981, no. 107) and of Shaista Khan ascribed to Gyan Chand both c. 1670 and in the Foundation Custodia, Paris, also attributed to Chitarman (Gahlin 1991, pl. 37, who doubts the inscription). A similar group in the Brit-ish Museum all from one seventeenth century album also has attribu-tions to Chitarman, although doubt has been cast upon them (Gahlin 1991, p. 39) and also on those from the same album attributed to Mu-hammad Nadir al-Samarqandi (Leach 1995, p. 931). For the portraits attributed to Chitarman in the British Museum album, see Martin 1912, pls. 187A and B, and for others in the group, pls. 184-97.

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This rare miniature is a recent discovery from a small group of paint-ings from Bijapur. Originally, our painting was smaller but was added to probably during Farrukh Husain’s lifetime by an artist in his circle.

Paintings from Bijapur of this date are amongst the most refined Indian works. Their patron, Sultan Ibrahim ‘Adil Shah (1571–1627), championed music, architecture and painting; little remains of the latter today. Farrukh Husain (also known as Farrukh Beg) was an outstanding and maverick artist. Originally from Iran, he travelled between the Mughal and Deccani courts. Examples of his work were exhibited at Sultans of the Deccan India: Opulence & Fantasy, Metro-politan Museum, New York, 2015.

Musician holding a vina Attributed to Farrukh Husain, Bijapur, 1600-05, with addi-tions by an artist in his circleOpaque pigments and gold on paperFolio 27.7 x 17.6 cm; Painting 11.5 x 4.5 cm

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This illustration from the Persian epic the Shahnama (‘The Book of Kings’) was produced in Bijapur, where Persian culture was assimi-lated.

This painting depicts Rustam, the great hero on the Iranian side, who had resolved to capture the Khaqan and bring him and whatever booty he could capture to his royal master the Shah, Kai Khusrau. Rustam drove his horse Rakhsh straight through a hail of missiles from the enemy making for the Khaqan and flung his lasso. He pulled the Khan down from his elephant and took him prisoner and then sent him off to the Shah.

The manuscript was first discovered in fragmentary form at Spink & Son around 1980. The paintings have since been dispersed amongst a number of museums and private collections. Most recently pages from this manuscript have been exhibited in Sultans of Deccan India: Opu-lence and Fantasy, Metropolitan Museum, New York, 2015.

ProvenanceMilo Cleveland Beach Spink & Son, prior to 1982

Rustam drags the Khakan of Chin from his elephantTwo folios from a ShahnamaBijapur, c. 1610Opaque pigments and gold on paperFolios 20.3 x 12cm; Painting 9 x 9.3cm

(facing folio with caligraphy not illustrated)

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Panel from a Kalamkari tent hanging Golconda region of the Coromandel Coast, c.1640-1650Mordant-painted and -dyed and resist-dyed plain-weave cot-tonTextile 234 x 191 cm; Stretcher 245 x 204.5 cm

Our textile belongs to a small and important group of royal tent furnishings coming out of the Amber thoskha-na (palace storerooms).  Due to the extremely high qual-ity of production, they are thought to have been com-missioned for the Muslim rulers of the Deccan.  They are strongly influenced by Persian design – Golconda being culturally and diplomatically close to the Safavid rulers of Iran, who were, like them, Shia Muslims (unlike the Sunni Mughals). 

Another section from our tent is in the Victoria & Albert Museum and possibly another panel in the National Museum, New Delhi.

Many chintz textiles from this group bear inscriptions on the verso giving various inventory dates, the earli-est being 1645, and the seal of Mirza Raja Jai Singh of Amber (r. 1621-1667), who fought in the Deccan for the emperor Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb. Presumably, this group of chintzes were produced in the Deccan prior to 1645 and might have been brought back from the Deccan by Mirza Raja Jai Singh after these military campaigns.

ProvenanceNasli Heeramaneck collection (1902-1971)

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This Persian nobleman or merchant, possibly resident in the Deccan, wears Safavid costume of the mid- to second half of the 17th century (ref. Canby, S. 2009, fig.73, ME 1920.0917.0.275). His long sleeved, ankle length flowing robe loosely follows the contours of his body and his low slung elaborately pleated sash is tied tightly below his stomach and holds in place a dagger. A sabre hangs from his waist and he holds a large Indian mace over his right shoulder. Both his turban and the shape of his dagger are similar to that worn by one of the figures in an engraving of Persians in their different costumes which Chardin illus-trates in his Travels in Persia. These took place between 1673 and 1677.

This unusual portrait was probably executed by a Deccani artist in the latter part of the 17th century.

There are tenuous links in style to the series of Mughal & Deccani portraits made in Golconda in around 1700 for the then foreign com-munity. These are usually cruder in style than our drawing (Hurel, R. 2010, 230 (1-20)).

The drawing has been cut around its edges and stuck onto a different sheet of paper, laid down onto card at a later date. Seen under very high magnification (50-100 times), it shows overall wear consistent with its age.

Safavid noblemanDeccan, possibly Golconda, 1665-1700Charcoal pencil on paper, cut out and laid down on a separate leafFolio 26.5 x 14.5 cm; Drawing 22.5 x 8 cm

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The Aparokshasiddhanta was composed by Maharaja Jaswant Singh of Jodhpur (b.1626, r.1638-78) and was painted in the Deccan where he served under the Emperor Aurangzeb (1658-1707). This page is one of only six paint-ings from this manuscript and is important because the inscription on verso dates the manuscript to V.S.1726 (AD 1669-70).

Our iris is comparable to the floral decoration on the silver doors of the tomb of Aurangzeb’s wife in Aurangabad (1661).

Other folios from this manuscript were exhibited in Sultans of Deccan India: Opulence and Fantasy, Metropolitan Mu-seum, New York, 2015.

Double-sided folio from the Aparokshasiddhanta of Maharaja Jasvant Singh of Jodhpur Aurangabad, dated V.S.1726 (AD 1669-70) Opaque watercolour and gold on paper, the reverse inscribed in Sanskrit in red Devanagari scriptFolio 31 x 22.2 cm; Painting 20.32 x 11 cm

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Detail of the verso illustrated on the previous page

Royal cap worn by one of the princes of Bahawalpur Ezra & Sion Co, Bombay, 1900-1950Jewels and gold thread10 x 15.5 cm

A lavishly decorated ceremonial princely cap of green velvet embroi-dered all over with twisted gold threads and gold sequins in a scrolling floral arrangement, profusely decorated with pearls, rubies, spinels and emeralds held in place with tiny gold pins. The front of the cap is decorated with a stylised crown. The interior of the cap is lined in satin, the edge with a thick band of fine leather stamped with the name and address of the tailor. The overall effect is almost three dimension-al, opulent and elegant.

ProvenancePrincely Collection, North West India

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A bejewelled young woman is riding a bay horse galloping through the coun-tryside past a well, from which mercury is gushing forth. Mercury or quick-silver in Indian lore is Shiva’s seed, spilled when in union with Parvati, and from it was born their divine child Karttikeya or Skanda. According to the alchemical text the Rasasastra, mercury or quicksilver boils up from a well when a young maiden fresh from her bath after her first menstruation passes it by. The maiden must flee on a swift horse to avoid contact. The quicksilver is foaming out of the well and is following her horse, but it will lose momen-tum after a while and be deposited in pits where it can be collected.

The dry landscape dotted with distant trees with spikes of red flowers leading to rounded hills is reminiscent of the two riding parties by Nainsukh in the V&A (Goswamy 1997, nos. 25 and 52). Beyond one of the rounded hills in the distance, menace looms for our rider, for one of the archers guard-ing an important person holding a country durbar has spotted this unusual event and is gearing up to take action if needed. The composition is prob-ably based on an earlier Mughal version such as one from Awadh now in the Bodleian Library from 1760-70 (with Europeans providing the distant menace, Topsfield 2008, no. 57), while other later Pahari versions are known (Sharma 2007, figs. 1, 4-6, also Sharma 2010, p. 50, and Boner et al. 1994, no. 384).

ProvenanceLudwig Habighorst collectionAbdur Rahman Chughtai (1894–1975) collection

Mercury chasing the young maidenGuler, by an artist of the ‘First Generation after Manaku and Nainsukh’, c. 1775Opaque pigments with gold on paperFolio 24 x 32.6 cm; Painting 17.1 x 26.3 cm

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Seated Devi, with worshippers to either side and a lion in the foreground From a Markandeya Purana seriesKangra or Guler, c. 1780Pen, ink and colour wash on paperFolio 14.1 x 19.5 cm

Other folios from this series are in the Museum Rietberg, Zurich and the Philadelphia Museum of Art( Cameron, A., 2015, pls 11,12 & 13). Two drawings from this set were part of the Stuart Cary Welch collection (Sotheby’s 31.05.2011).

ProvenancePrivate Collection, 1984-presentGift from Howard Hodgkin to current owner c.1984Pan Asian Collection: Sotheby Oriental Miniatures and Manuscripts, 20 June 1983, lot 125 (illustrated)

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John Carnac was three times commander-in-chief of the Company’s forces in Bengal, culminating in the war (1763-65) with the forces of Bengal, Awadh and the Mughal emperor Shah Alam II. He assisted Robert Clive in the negotiations with the Mughal emperor (the treaty of Allahabad) which resulted in the grant of the Diwani of Bengal, Bi-har, and Orissa to the Company. Carnac returned to England in 1767. Before he left again for India in 1773, he gave this painting to Robert Gregory, director of the East India Company in London and later its chairman (1775). Permission to go to India other than in the Compa-ny’s service had to be sought from the Directors and sweeteners such as this to one or other of the Directors would not have gone amiss.

ProvenanceMartin Woolf Orskey (1925-2018) collectionPresented by John Carnac (1721-1800), East India Company army officer, to Robert Gregory (1729? - 1810), director of the East India Company and politician

Nawab Shuja’ al-Daula of Avadh hunting black-buck; presentation gift from General Carnac to Robert GregoryMurshidabad, 1760-65Opaque pigments with gold on paperFolio 30.2 x 41.7 cm

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Opposite detail and below, verso presentation inscription

It is possible that this Oudh (Avadh) portrait depicts one of the women in Shuja al-Daula’s household, perhaps his favourite courtesan. It is after a por-trait, now lost, by Tilly Kettle. Another version of this portrait, which has been attributed to the Oudh artist Mihr Chand, is in the Museum of Fine Arts Boston (2001.136). Joan Cummins writes:

‘Oudh (Avadh) was one of the eastern Indian states that rose to prominence as the Mughal empire decentralized. Its capital city moved between Faizabad and Lucknow and its Muslim rulers were active patrons of miniature painting in an eighteenth century variant of the Mughal style. The paintings that Shuja ul-Daula commissioned from Tilly Kettle were in an entirely different style and format: they were traditional Western oil paintings made to hang on a wall and featured nearly life-sized figures. We do not know how many oil paintings Kettle made in Oudh; those that survive are portraits of the nawab, appearing either alone or with his sons.

Some of Kettle’s Oudh portraits are known to us only through copies made by one of the nawabs court artists, Mihr Chand, who may have studied with the English artist during his time at Faizabad. Mihr Chand’s copies of Kettle’s paintings reproduce the compositions and subject matter of the originals but they are much smaller, painted on paper in the opaque watercolours traditional to India’ (Cummins, Indian Painting from Cave Temples to the Colonial Period 2006, pp. 204-205 & plate 113). The Museum of Fine Arts Boston has one of these paintings, like ours, an image of an unidentified woman. It is most prob-ably a portrait, because it is in the same format and setting as portraits of the nawab and his family.

ProvenancePaul Walter collection

A portrait of a lady after a lost painting by Tilly KettleLucknow, c. 1780Opaque pigments with gold on paperFolio 22.2 x 14.4 cm

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This painting from an album featuring architecture, flora and fauna, Indian trades and festivals was assembled into an album by Louisa Parlby. Louisa was in India with her husband James Parlby, an engi-neer with the East India Company. They lived in Maidapur, south of Murshidabad, the old capital city of Bengal.

Some paintings in her album are almost identical to paintings in the British Library (Hyde Album), the British Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum (Losty, J.P., ‘Murshidabad Painting 1750-1820’, in ed. Das, N. and Llewellyn-Jones, R., Murshidabad – Forgotten Capital of Bengal, Maarg, 2013 and Llewellyn-Jones, R., The Louisa Parlby Album – Watercolours form Murshidabad 1795-1803, Francesca Galloway, 2017).

For another version of this painting, see the British Library (Hyde Collection Add.Or.3229, publ. Archer 1979, fig. 78).

Hindu nautch scene with representations of Krishna and Balarama dancing in a courtyard with the gopisFolio from the Louisa Parlby albumMurshidabad, 1795-1803Opaque watercolour on paperFolio 49.5 x 75 cm

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Botanical study from the Rutaceae family, genus CitrusFolio from the Rind AlbumCompany School, Calcutta, c. 1800Opaque watercolour on paperFolio 50 x 25 cm

The East India Company founded its trading centres in India in the early 17th century but it was not until the second half of the 18th century that East India Company employees began to commission Mughal trained artists to produce watercolours to English taste, thus creating what is now known as Company School painting. Among the most beautiful are the early natural history drawings of Indian fauna and flora. Menageries and botanical gardens were established in Calcutta and Madras at the end of the 18th century and exquisite illustrations of their animal, plant and bird life were commissioned by such patrons as Sir Elijah and Lady Impey, the Marquess Wellesley, Lady Clive and James Rind.

Major James Nathaniel Rind (d.1813) was another enthusiastic observer of Indian life and collector of paintings. He was in India from 1778 to 1804 where he became a brigade major in Calcutta in 1801. He commissioned a large collection of botanical studies, some of which were shown in the ground-breaking exhibition ‘Room for Wonder’, New York 1978.

The Rind album artists are discussed in H.J Noltie, ‘Indian Export Art? The Botanical Drawings’ in Forgotten Masters, ed. Dalrymple, W., 2019, p81-82.

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22Vaishnavite silkAssam, late 17th-early 18th centurySilk lampas221 x 82 cm

This silk forms part of a small corpus of Vaishnavite ritual textiles, all woven in horizontal registers depicting scenes from the life of Krishna which relate to his exploits as a killer of demons or as a lover of gopis. They also illustrate scenes from the Ramayama which concerns Rama, another incarnation of Vishnu. Almost all the pieces bear woven inscriptions in Assamese describing the scenes above them.

According to R. Crill, these Vaishavite ritual silks were first made in around 1567-69, for Prince Chilarai of Cooch Behar, under the su-pervison of the great Vasihnavite reformer Shankaredeva, who died in 1569. Chilarai asked Shankaradeva to supervise the weaving of a great silk scroll depicting the early life of Krishna, known as Vrindavani vastra or cloth of Vrindaban.

Other textiles from this group all point to a continuous tradition from the time of Shankaradeva to the 19th century. The largest example is in the British Museum. Other examples are in the Riboud Collection at the Musee Guimet, the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Los Angeles Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Newark Mu-seum in New Jersey and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts amongst others, and another late 17th century Assamese silk is now in the Chepstow Museum in Wales.

Tambal SarasaIndia, Coromandel Coast for the Sumatran market, 18th centuryMordant-painted and -dyed and resist-dyed plain-weave cotton261 x 118 cm

This fine ceremonial textile with a patchwork pattern consists of thirty different triangular designs which are then repeated to create an over-all patchwok or tambal field. This dazzling range of Indian and Java-nese designs include locally made batik patterns used at court. The shape and size of this textile recalls a kain panjang or man’s skirt-cloth.

There are a number of other patchwork cloths such as the dodot in the Victoria & Albert Museum (Guy, J.1998, fig.90.91), ritual hangings in the Asian Civilazations Museum in Singapore (ex Roger Hollander Collection acc.2009-02039 & 2009-02117), a canopy or ceremonial hanging in the Banoo & Jeevak Parpia collection (ed. Avril, E. 2019, no 34) and another canopy in the National Museum of Ethnology in Osaka (Yoshioka and Yoshimoto, Sarasa 6, pl.I). This small group forms one of the more spectacular groups of Indian Coromandel coast designs for the Southeast Asian market.

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trade cloth

Trade cloth

Pha Nung Chong Kraben India, Coromandel Coast, made for the Thai market, late 18th centuryCotton, hand-painted, mordant-dyed and resist-dyed368 x 122 cm

Part of formal court dress in the 18th and 19th century, the pha nung chong kraben skirt cloth was worn pulled up between the legs like a dhoti. It remained popular until trousers were introduced into Thai royal attire and was worn by both men and women.

Indian chintzes for the Thai market have been described and illus-trated at length in most books on Indian trade cloths. Most recent publications include some very beautiful patterns in the Banoo & Jeevak Parpia collection (Avril, Ellen, Traded Treasure: Indian Textiles for Global Markets, Herbert Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell Univer-sity 2019) and the article by Steven J. Cohen ‘The Specilized Markets of South and Southeast Asia - Thailand and Sri Lanka’ in Cloth that Changed the World - the Art and Fashion of Indian Chintz, edited by Sa-rah Fee - an exhibition at the Royal Ontario Museum Toronto which opens in April 2020.

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25Tapis panel depicting ancestor figuresSouth Sumatra, Lampung area, Paminggir people,early 19th centurySilk satin and running stiches and gold thread couching on cotton, selvedge to selvedge128 x 12.5 cm

The Lampung district in South Sumatra is especially rich in textile art. Over several centuries a deeply stratified society evolved in the region due to the lucrative pepper trade. The Paminggir people, who lived along the southern and western coast in South Sumatra, had a highly hierarchical culture in which rank, acquired by wealth, denoted status within the community. Textiles and especial-ly costume, created to be worn at ceremonies and festivities, were an expression of this status.

Our narrow panel is embroidered with strands of white, blue, two tones of rust coloured untwisted silk, worked in satin and with running stitches on a dark blue cotton ground. Gold thread couching further enhances the exciting design and attests to a high level of craftsmanship. These narrow embroidered panels were worked separately and then assembled or sewn onto broader bands of warp ikat to create the skirt or tapis.

LiteratureMajlis, B. Khan, The Art of Indonesian Textiles – The E.M. Bakwin Collection at the Art Institute of Chicago, 2007

This coat was made for the famous and multi-talented Maharaja Kameshwar Singh Bahadur, from the family of Zamindars and rulers of Mithila and Darbhanga district in Bihar. He ruled from 1929 to the independence of India in 1947. He was known to be close to Mahatma Gandhi, who in an interview during his visit to Bihar in 1947, de-scribed him as being like a son to him.

According to Sir John Tarlton Whitty (1879-1948), the Maharaja and he exchanged dinner jackets at a dinner hosted by Whitty when he was magistrate and governor of Bihar (October 1934-February 1935).

Dinner jacket/coat made for H.H. Maharaja of Darbhanga (1907-1962) India, probably Calcutta, early 1930sFrench Art Deco silk woven with metal thread; edged with velvet

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Francesca Galloway Ltd

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