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Eighteen miniature portraits of Mughal Emperors and Princes and their Timurid ancestors, India, Delhi or Deccan, 1740s, with inscriptions of identification by William Chinnery, 1750
Estimate
12,000 - 18,000 GBP
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Description
- Gouache on paper
Gouache with gold on paper, each with a narrow gold border, identified below in inscriptions in brown ink by W. Chinnery, 1750, each numbered on the reverse, all framed, numbered again on upper left corner of backing boards, some with paper labels adhered to back of frames; and a hand-written listing of the subjects of the portraits
Provenance
Possibly commissioned by James Fraser senior (1713-1754) in India (1730-49 with interruptions)
In the Collection of William (1784-1835) and James Fraser (1783-1856)
By direct descent to Malcolm R. Fraser Esq
In the Collection of William (1784-1835) and James Fraser (1783-1856)
By direct descent to Malcolm R. Fraser Esq
Catalogue Note
This is an interesting and finely executed series of miniature portraits of Mughal emperors, princes and their Timurid ancestors. The quality of the painting is very accomplished, and is enhanced by the use of texturising features around the inner gold borders, where the artist has punched a series of dots and incised a cross-hatch motif into the gold.
The provenance of this series is very interesting. They all bear inscriptions identifying the subject, extremely neatly written below each portrait in a typographic manner. The portrait of Nadir Shah (which is slightly larger than the rest), has a further smaller inscription below the main one which reads "W. Chinnery scrip 1750". This is surely the William Chinnery of Gough Square, London, who was the father of the William Chinnery of the East India Company and grandfather of the artist George Chinnery. William Chinnery senior (1707-1791) was a specialist in scripts and the author of a book on writing and drawing. His son William was an East India merchant based in Madras and an amateur artist. It is possible that William Chinnery junior, knowing that his father had an interest in paintings and drawing, sent this set of portraits back to him in England as soon as he arrived in India as a young man, and that William Chinnery senior wrote the inscriptions of identification on them in a typographic manner. If this is the case, the portraits must have been back in England by 1750 (the date which is inscribed on one of them by W. Chinnery), meaning the portraits would have been painted in the 1740s. This would accord with the sequence of emperors themselves, which finishes with Nadir Shah, the Persian warlord who invaded India and sacked Delhi in 1739. One wonders whether the presence of these portraits in the Chinnery household in London might have helped to inspire the young George Chinnery not only to become an artist, but also to travel to India and the Orient himself.
Another possibility is that the portraits came home with William and James's grandfather, James Fraser (1713-1754). The dates would fit perfectly. He was in India 1730-c.1740 and published the history of Nadir Shah in 1742 after which he returned to India until 1749. It is possible, even probable, that he brought home with him the set of portraits and got William Chinnery senior to write the inscriptions for him in 1750. This would also explain why the series ends with Nadir Shah.
The portraits are as follows:
Timur, Miran Shah, Sultan Muhammad Mirza, Sultan Abu Said Mirza, Umar Shykh Mirza, Babur, Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan, Dara Shikoh, Aurangzeb, Azam Shah, Jahandar Shah, Rafi al-Darjat, Rafi al-Daulat, Muhammad Shah, Nadir Shah.
The provenance of this series is very interesting. They all bear inscriptions identifying the subject, extremely neatly written below each portrait in a typographic manner. The portrait of Nadir Shah (which is slightly larger than the rest), has a further smaller inscription below the main one which reads "W. Chinnery scrip 1750". This is surely the William Chinnery of Gough Square, London, who was the father of the William Chinnery of the East India Company and grandfather of the artist George Chinnery. William Chinnery senior (1707-1791) was a specialist in scripts and the author of a book on writing and drawing. His son William was an East India merchant based in Madras and an amateur artist. It is possible that William Chinnery junior, knowing that his father had an interest in paintings and drawing, sent this set of portraits back to him in England as soon as he arrived in India as a young man, and that William Chinnery senior wrote the inscriptions of identification on them in a typographic manner. If this is the case, the portraits must have been back in England by 1750 (the date which is inscribed on one of them by W. Chinnery), meaning the portraits would have been painted in the 1740s. This would accord with the sequence of emperors themselves, which finishes with Nadir Shah, the Persian warlord who invaded India and sacked Delhi in 1739. One wonders whether the presence of these portraits in the Chinnery household in London might have helped to inspire the young George Chinnery not only to become an artist, but also to travel to India and the Orient himself.
Another possibility is that the portraits came home with William and James's grandfather, James Fraser (1713-1754). The dates would fit perfectly. He was in India 1730-c.1740 and published the history of Nadir Shah in 1742 after which he returned to India until 1749. It is possible, even probable, that he brought home with him the set of portraits and got William Chinnery senior to write the inscriptions for him in 1750. This would also explain why the series ends with Nadir Shah.
The portraits are as follows:
Timur, Miran Shah, Sultan Muhammad Mirza, Sultan Abu Said Mirza, Umar Shykh Mirza, Babur, Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan, Dara Shikoh, Aurangzeb, Azam Shah, Jahandar Shah, Rafi al-Darjat, Rafi al-Daulat, Muhammad Shah, Nadir Shah.