- 94
A PAGE FROM THE ST PETERSBURG ALBUM: FARHAD SPIES SHIRIN BATHING, INDIA, MUGHAL, LATE 17TH CENTURY |
Estimate
20,000 - 25,000 GBP
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Description
- painting: 17 by 22.2cm. leaf: 30.8 by 46.8cm.
gouache heightened with gold on paper, mounted on an album page with wide blue borders decorated with floral scrolls in gold
Condition
In good condition, minor losses to the gold in the margins, minor stains and losses to the paint which though remains bright, as viewed.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
Catalogue Note
The St Petersburg Muraqqa' was assembled in Persia in the middle of the eighteenth century. Following the sack of Delhi by Nadir Shah in 1739, a group of paintings were brought back to Persia and each one was mounted with new borders and often backed with a calligraphic page. At the beginning of the twentieth century the album was sold by the Royal Library and most of its leaves (exactly 100) were acquired by Tsar Nicholas II of Russia in 1910, who presented it to the Russian Museum in St Petersburg (von Habsburg 1996, p.20).
Soon after, various leaves were offered on the market and at least thirty folios were separated from the original album and are now in various museum collections, including the Freer/Sackler Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., the Musée du Louvre, Paris, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Aga Khan Museum, Toronto, and the Fondation Custodia, Paris.
Most of the paintings are Mughal and dated to the sixteenth and seventeenth century (half of all the paintings postdate the period of Shah Jahan’s reign) and were either single or composite (Wright 2008, p.474).
This beautiful and delicate composite page is likely to have been part of the original album. The borders, decorated with fine gold interlacing flower scrolls on a deep blue ground recall those of other album pages and the presence of composite paintings is not unusual in the album (see plates 8, 9, 12, 13, 41, 60, 61, 86, 87, 194 and 195, 226, 227, 240 in von Habsburg 1996). A further leaf from the St. Petersburg Muraqqa', from the collection of Stuart Cary Welch, was sold in these rooms, 6 April 2011, lot 94.
Soon after, various leaves were offered on the market and at least thirty folios were separated from the original album and are now in various museum collections, including the Freer/Sackler Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., the Musée du Louvre, Paris, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Aga Khan Museum, Toronto, and the Fondation Custodia, Paris.
Most of the paintings are Mughal and dated to the sixteenth and seventeenth century (half of all the paintings postdate the period of Shah Jahan’s reign) and were either single or composite (Wright 2008, p.474).
This beautiful and delicate composite page is likely to have been part of the original album. The borders, decorated with fine gold interlacing flower scrolls on a deep blue ground recall those of other album pages and the presence of composite paintings is not unusual in the album (see plates 8, 9, 12, 13, 41, 60, 61, 86, 87, 194 and 195, 226, 227, 240 in von Habsburg 1996). A further leaf from the St. Petersburg Muraqqa', from the collection of Stuart Cary Welch, was sold in these rooms, 6 April 2011, lot 94.