A standing angel with book and orb, attributed to Abu'l Hasan 'Nadir al-Zaman', Mughal, circa 1610-15

gouache heightened with gold on paper, laid down on an album page with plain margins, the reverse with two Persian couplets in nasta’liq script against a ground of fine scrolling gold flowers, signed and dated ''Abd al-Rahim al-Harawi, 1001' (1592-93 AD); an inspection note made at Amber in an unusual combination of nasta’liq and devanagari script: 'ar 2 to 26 (I HIJJA) 1111 (1699-1700 AD); Mewari royal inventory number 9 17/8; and valuation of 10 rupees

Mughal Imperial Collection
Raja Jai Singh II of Amber (r.1699-1743: inspection date on verso)
Mewar Royal Collection (inventory numbers on verso)
Acquired in London in 1988

Beach, Fischer and Goswamy 2011, pp.215 & 222, fig.22
S. Ramaswamy, Conceit of the Globe in Mughal Visual Practice, Michigan, 2007

In good overall condition, minor paint loss in upper and lower left quadrants, colours vivid and calligraphy on reverse bold, as viewed.
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This painting of an angel holding an orb and book, clearly inspired by the European engravings circulating in India in the late-sixteenth and early-seventeenth century, has been attributed to the great Mughal artist Abu'l Hasan, known as Nadir al-Zaman, "The Wonder of the Age or "Rarity of the Age" (see Beach in Beach, Fischer and Goswamy 2011, pp.215 and 222). As well as a general cultural interest in European imagery current among the Mughal emperors and artists in the late-sixteenth and early-seventeenth century, it was Jahangir's keenness that his artists should equal those of Europe that no doubt led to Abu'l Hasan producing, at the early age of twelve, an exquisite copy of an Albrecht Dürer engraving of St. John (Pal et al. 1991, p.71, fig.2,  Beach, Fischer and Goswamy 2011, p.222, fig.8), and to subjects such as the present miniature.

Abu'l Hasan was born in 1588 or 1589 and was active in the royal atelier from around 1600 until circa 1630. He was the son of Aqa Riza and the brother of Abid. Of the three he is considered to have been the most skilled, and transcended them both. The Mughal Emperor Jahangir (r.1605-27), writing in the Tusuk-i-Jahangiri, praises Abu'l Hasan ('Nadir al-Zaman') above all other artists: "On this day [in 1618] Abu-l-Hasan, the painter who had been honoured with the title of Nadiru-z-zaman, drew the picture of my accession as the frontispiece of the Jahangir-nama, and brought it to me. As it was worthy of all praise, he received endless favours. His work was perfect, and his picture is one of the chefs d’oeuvre of the age. At the present time he has no rival or equal. If at this day the masters 'Abdu-l-Hayy and Bihzad were alive, they would have done him justice. His father, Aqa Riza-i, of Herat, at the time when I was prince, joined my service. He (Abu-l-Hasan) was a khanazad of my Court. There is, however, no comparison between his work and that of his father. One can not put them into the same category. My connection was based on having reared him. From his earliest years up to the present time I have always looked after him, till his art has arrived at this rank. Truly he has become Nadira-i-zaman ('the wonder of the age')" (translated by Rogers-Beveridge 1989, vol.II, p.20).

The specific European engraving on which this painting is based has not yet been identified, possibly due to the fact that, like many other Mughal works based on European images (see also lots 3, 6, 10 and 19) it is an amalgam of elements from different European engravings. A full-frontal figure holding an orb is usually associated with the image of Christ Pantocrater, as is a figure holding a book (Christ Pantocrater usually holds one or the other, but not both). Another figure often depicted holding a book is St. Matthew the Evangelist, who is also sometimes depicted with angel's wings. Domenico Vitus produced an engraving of a female figure holding a book and surrounded by clouds (Pictura Religionis, 1579) and many engravings were made that included angels holding a variety of objects.

The miniature has been mounted in the Mewar album and bears Mewari inventory numbers 9 17/8 and a valuation of 10 rupees on the reverse. For the existence of Mughal miniatures in the Mewar Royal Collection, see Leach 1998, pp.136-9; Seyller in Philadelphia 2001, p.12-21, where he also discusses the contemporary valuations, first introduced by the Mughals and later adopted by the Mewaris, to be found on a small number of Indian paintings and drawings. Section 17 of the royal paintings inventory at Udaipur was devoted to Firangi ('Frankish', i.e. European) subjects, of which the present miniature is numbered eighth of the ninety-two, which must have included a few Mughal works, known to have been in this section. For an analysis of the Mewari numbering system, see Topsfield in Guy et al. 1995, pp.188-199.

The reverse also bears a page of superb nasta'liq calligraphy dated 1001 (1591) by the renowned Mughal royal calligrapher 'Abd al-Rahim al-Haravi, who in 1604 was awarded the title 'Anbarin-qalam' ('Amber Pen' or 'Pen of Ambergris', suggesting that his calligraphy was so good that it was beautifully scented). His father and grandfather were both scribes; his grandfather originating from Herat (hence the nisba al-Haravi). 'Abd al-Rahim moved to India and worked initially at the library-atelier of the great general and bibliophile 'Abd al-Rahim Khan-i Khanan. His earliest work in the imperial workshop is dated 1591 and he continued working during the reign of Jahangir until 1625. For other manuscripts by this calligrapher, see Welch and Welch 1982, pp.166-7; see also Dye 2001, pp.246-7, no.84. For a portrait of 'Abd al-Rahim by Daulat, see Brend 1995, p.64, f.325b, col.fig.47. This latter miniature was added, during the reign of Jahangir, to the Emperor Akbar's Khamsa of Nizami, circa 1595, now in the British Library.