A portrait of a nobleman holding a falcon, attributable to Basawan, Mughal, circa 1580-90

gouache heightened with gold on paper, extended above, below and at sides, laid down on an album page with plain borders

Major Harold Amery, London (1877-1915)
Rt. Hon. Leopold Amery, C.H., P.C., London (1873-1955)
Rt. Hon. Baron Amery of Lustleigh, P.C., London (1919-96)

In reasonably good overall condition, painting extended above, below and at sides, paint loss to falcon, some losses to album page, as viewed.
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This portrait of a nobleman holding a falcon and remains of its prey (the bird's legs are held in the man's left hand) is from an album of small court portraits prepared for the Emperor Akbar (r.1556-1605). It is typical of the many portraits of courtiers and members of the household made for the Emperor Akbar. Abu’l Fazl tells us in the A’in-i Akbari that "His Majesty himself sat for his likeness, and also ordered to have the likenesses taken of all the grandees of the realm. An immense album was thus formed: those that have passed away have received a new life, and those who are still alive have immortality promised them." (translated by Blochmann 1873 (reprint 1989), vol.I, p.115). Brand and Lowry (1985, pp.79-80) note that the portraits "provided the emperor with a visual record that enabled him to 'see' the various members of his court without having to read about them... Differences in size and setting suggest that at least two major portrait albums were formed: one with relatively large figures painted on green backgrounds...". The present work falls into this bracket. The miniature was later enlarged for an album prepared for Prince Salim, the future Emperor Jahangir (1569-1627, r.1605-27), the enlarged areas are visible here. For illustrations of other of the many extant portraits of this type, including those with enlargements and cypress trees, see inter alia, Brand and Lowry 1985, pp.81-83, nos.47-55; Paris 1986, no.6, pl.4; see also lot 15 in this catalogue. For a related portrait of Prince Salim, signed by Basawan, see Goswamy-Bhatia 1999, pp.50-51, no.38.

Basawan was ranked fourth after Mir Sayyd ‘Ali, ‘Abd al-Samad and Daswanth, in Abu’l Fazl's listing of eminent royal artists (ibid., p.114), where he writes: "4. Basawan. In back grounding, drawing of features, distribution of colours, portrait painting, and several other branches, he is most excellent, so much so that many critics prefer him to Daswanth." For further discussions and references to Basawan, see Seyller in Beach, Fischer and Goswamy 2011, vol.1, pp.119-134; Beach 1981, pp.89-90; Okada 1991, pp.1-16; Okada 1992, pp.76-94; Welch 1961, pp.7-17. For another work in this catalogue attributable to Basawan see lot 6. See also Sotheby's London, Arts of the Islamic World, 7 October 2015, lot 273 for a full-page illustration from the Chingiznama attributed to Basawan and co-artist Bhim Gujarati.