A WANDERING DERVISH WITH A DOG, INDIA, MUGHAL, FIRST HALF 17TH CENTURY

In this small painting, a bearded, barefoot dervish wearing a rust-coloured cloak and a small red cap walks through a sparse landscape accompanied by his faithful dog. Over his shoulder he carries his few meagre belongings. The subject of holy men, dervishes and ascetics of different religions was a popular one in Mughal painting in the first half of the seventeenth century and many portraits and group scenes survive that bear witness to this genre.

Single-figure studies of holy men of different faiths became popular in the early years of the century, encouraged by Prince Salim's personal interest in the subject of mysticism, yogic practices and other religions. Several figures of holy men were included in the Salim Album, compiled for Prince Salim (later Emperor Jahangir) at Allahabad between 1600 and 1604 (see, e.g. Wright 2008, pp.55, 59, 265, 267, 269, 271; Glynn 2000, fig.16a, pp.252-3; Quintanilla et al 2016, fig.4.57, p.197; McWilliams et al 2013, no.128), of which two depict holy men wearing very similar cloaks with vertical dotted stripes (presumably a type of simple cloth favoured by ascetics), accompanied by white dogs (Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, In. 4.3, see Wright 2008, no.29, pp.270-1; Harvard University Art Museums, 2002.50.29, see McWilliams et al 2013, no.128).

Portraits of holy men continued to be popular in the following decades, and miniatures such as the present example were produced for a variety of patrons and contexts. Related works include a c.1610 portrait of a wandering dervish with a white dog (the dervish again wearing a similar dotted striped cloak), from the Khurram Album (University of Michigan Museum of Art, 1969/2.175); a portrait of an aged pilgrim, by Abu'l Hasan, c.1618-20 (Toronto, Aga Khan Museum, see Canby 1998, no.104, p.140); a dervish with a serpentine staff, of c.1635 (London, British Library, see Falk and Archer 1981, no.68f.57v, p.395); a dervish leading a bear, by Govardhan, 1630-40 (New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, see Welch et al 1987, no.76, pp.238); Majnun in the Wilderness (Chester Beatty Library, see Leach 1995, vol.1, p.448; Wright 2008, no.69, p.406).

Many of these portraits were produced in a small format - for example, the Salim Album miniatures typically measure between and 7.9 by 5.8cm and 13.6 by 8cm; while the Khurram Album portrait in Michigan is approximately 11 by 7cm, and the portrait in the Aga Khan Museum is 11.7 by 6.5cm. The present miniature measures 13.5 by 7.3cm, and without the later extension in the upper part it measures 10 by 7.3cm.

A later and smaller version of the same composition as the present work is in the British Museum (1929,0406,0.1). The only differences are in the landscape: the present example has a tree at the left and a small hill with distant trees on the right, whereas the British Museum version has no trees but instead a gently rising horizon with distant buildings. The British Museum example is attributed to the late seventeenth century and both paintings are extended in their upper parts in order to fit into album borders. The description of the British Museum example on their website mentions that although dervishes in Persian paintings are often portrayed with cats, Indian equivalents tend to be accompanied by dogs, reflecting the Hindu tradition associated with Shiva. 

An earlier German owner has inscribed 'jager' (hunter) on the reverse, presumably misidentifying the subject for a man out hunting with his dog.