Two Holy Men Conversing, Attributable to Payag, India, Mughal, circa 1630-35, with calligraphy by the Royal Scribe Mir 'Ali, Persia, first half 16th century

Ink and gouache heightened with gold on paper, laid down on an album page, ruled in colours and gold, with a broad light blue inner border, a further border with a dotted trellis design against a dark blue ground, outer margins of embossed Eastern-inspired German paper, reverse with a panel of calligraphy signed by Mir 'Ali Katib, with polychrome cornerpieces filled with scrolling flowers, ruled in colours and gold, outer margins of ensuite German paper  

In good overall condition, a few very mild abrasions at the lower edge of the painting, album page edges with some wear and a few mild creases, calligraphy on reverse slightly rubbed, 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."

This is an important miniature, very close in style to the work of the famous seventeenth-century Mughal artist Payag. The most distinctive feature of Payag's style that is present here is the glowing golden sky streaked with pink and blue clouds, against which are set trees and foliage. An extremely similar treatment can be seen in the well-known scene attributed to Payag of Soldiers Listening to Music, in the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin (see Leach 1995, vol.I, p.441). Furthermore the actual execution of the trees (both the trunks and leaves) and other foliage, delicately rendered and almost silhouetted against the sky, is extremely similar in both works. Indeed, the delicate treatment of trees and foliage is quite distinctive throughout Payag's work, and related examples can be seen in Dye 1991, pp.128-130, Seyller 2011, figs.4, 5, 7, 8, 9.

Another feature that can be associated with Payag is the particular shape of the faces of the two Holy Men, with a slim shape, straight, slightly long nose and visible wrinkes around the eyes. Faces of very similar type can be seen in A Gathering of Mystics, signed by Payag, in the Keir Collection, Ham (see Robinson et al 1976, no.V.72, col.pl.38; Dye 1991, p.119) and in several of the figures in the crowd at lower right in The Siege of Qandahar, in the Royal Windsor Padshahnama (see Dye 1991, p.128; Beach and Koch 1997, no.18, p.55).

The album page borders of this miniature are unusual, and belong to a now dispersed album which share the same 'oriental-inspired' gold-embossed paper of eighteenth-century German origin (see the Schmoller Collection of Decorated Papers, Manchester Metropolitan University, 2008). More information about the decorated papers can also be found in A. Haemmerle, Buntpapier, Munich 1977, no.624. Two pages from the same album are in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (see P. Pal, Indian Painting, Volume I, Los Angeles, 1993, p.326-7, no.99 & 348-9, no.110).