A Noble Pair on Horseback

Object Details

• Court

  Mughal Court

• School/Tradition

  Mughal school

• Provenance

  Before 1886

  Ownership information unknown

  By 1886-1907

  Colonel Henry Bathurst Hanna (1839-1914), method of acquisition unknown [1]

  1907-1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Colonel Henry Bathurst Hanna [2]

  From 1920

  Freer Gallery of Art, gift from Charles Lang Freer [3]

  Notes:

  [1] In the Freer Art Inventory, created sometime before Charles Lang Freer’s death in 1919, cataloguers include notations indicating Col. Hanna owned the work by 1886. See Art Inventories, Paintings: Indian and Persian, H. B. Hanna collection, undated, Box 65, Folder No. 9, Charles Lang Freer Papers, National Museum of Asian Art Archives, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., , copy in object file.

  See “Catalogue of Indo-Persian Pictures and Manuscripts, Principally of the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth Centuries by Native Artists, Collected by H. B. Hanna” [book], (London: Dowdeswell and Dowdeswells, 1890).

  Colonel Henry Bathurst Hanna (1839-1914) was an officer in the British military and a collector of Indian paintings. Born in Petersfield, Hampshire, England, Hanna’s family later moved to London, where he was baptized in 1851. Beginning in 1857, Hanna served as a commissioned officer in the Indian Army and retired with the rank of Colonel in 1889. After his retirement, he resided in London and Petersfield with his younger sisters. According to Hanna, he began collecting Indian paintings around the time of the Indian Rebellion (1857-1859). See letter from Henry Bathurst Hanna to Charles Lang Freer, dated April 10, 1908 [sic, 1907], p. 3, Box 17, Folder No. 10, Charles Lang Freer Papers, National Museum of Asian Art Archives, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

  [2] See also the Charles Lang Freer art voucher no. 24, “For a collection of Indo-Persian pictures and manuscripts” from H. B. Hanna of Heathmere, Petersfield, Hants. [Hampshire], England, from October 1907, Box 114, Folder No. 12, Charles Lang Freer Papers, National Museum of Asian Art Archives, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., copy in object file.

  [3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer’s gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

  Research updated February 22, 2024

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Previous custodian or owner

  Colonel Henry Bathurst Hanna (1839-1914) (C.L. Freer source)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  India

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

  The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The National Museum of Asian Art welcomes information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections.

Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1800s, 1900s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, Hanna, Henry Bathurst

• Place

  India

• Topic

  South Asian and Himalayan Art, Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Animals, Noble, Mughal dynasty (1526 - 1858), Horses

• Culture

  Himalayan peoples, South Asians

• Object Type

  Paintings