A Banquet Scene from the Tarikh-i-Alfi

Object Details

• Artist

  Tarya

  Nar Singh (Painted between late 1580s and 1604)

• Patron

  Akbar (reigned 1556-1605)

• Court

  Mughal Court

• School/Tradition

  Mughal school

• Provenance

  ca. 1592-1594 - ?

  Akbar (1542-1605; reign 1556-1605), by commission [1]

  ?-at least 1931

  Ownership information unknown

  At least 1930-1931

  Ajit Ghose (b. 1886), method of acquisition unknown [2]

  From 1931

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Ajit Ghose [3]

  Notes:

  [1] See Milo Beach, “The Imperial Image: Paintings for the Mughal Court,” (Washington, DC and Ahmedabad, India: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and Mapin International Inc., 2012), cat. 11C, pp. 77, 79. The Mughal emperor Akbar (1542-1605; reign 1556-1605), commissioned several of his Islamic scholars to jointly write the history of the first thousand years of the Islamic world. The work was completed between 1593-1594.

  [2] See offer letter from Ajit Ghose, Calcutta (Kolkata), India, to John. E Lodge, dated February 19, 1931, copy in object file. Ajit Ghose’s letter states, “Dear sir, [/] You will remember that about a year ago when I saw you with the miniatures of my Akbar manuscript, ‘Tarikh-i-Alfi’, and suggested that the leaves might be acquired for the Freer Gallery of Art, you said that you could only buy only a specimen leaf. At that time I did not entertain the idea of selling the leaves separately. I have, however, now changed my mind. I am sending you one of the finest leaves, ‘A Banquet held by the Caliph Al-Mistasim’ [al Mu'tasim], which is signed by Tiriyya, one of the foremost of the painters of Akbar’s court, who is mentioned by Abul Fazl, and by Brispat, a new name not hither to record.”

  See “Invoice of Merchandise,” dated February 17, 1931, copy in object file. Ajit Ghose shipped this painting from Kolkata, India to the Freer Gallery of Art in 1931.

  Ajit Ghose was a lawyer and scholar in Calcutta (Kolkata), India. Ghose was a numismatist, who also collected Persian and Indian art, including paintings and antiquities.

  [3] See object file for copy of Ajit Ghose, Calcutta (Kolkata), India, invoice to Freer Gallery of Art, dated June 15, 1931, and marked approved on June 15, 1931. 

  Research updated October 27, 2023

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Arts of the Indian Subcontinent and the Himalayas (October 16, 2004 to January 3, 2016)

  South and South East Asian Art (May 9, 1993 to February 7, 2000)

  The Imperial Image: Painting for the Mughal Court (September 25, 1981 to 30 March 1982)

  Indian Art (January 1, 1963 to January 28, 1981)

  Centennial Exhibition, West Corridor (February 25, 1956 to July 11, 1958)

  Untitled Exhibition, South Asian Painting, 1955 (October 24, 1955 to November 28, 1955)

  Untitled Exhibition, Mughal Painting, 1947 (April 23 to September 30, 1947)

  Untitled Exhibition, South Asian Paintings and Sculpture (October 2, 1947 to February 25, 1956)

  Untitled Exhibition, Mughal Painting (December 20, 1944 to April 23, 1947)

  Untitled Exhibition, South Asian Paintings, Gallery 4 (May 5, 1933 to January 9, 1945)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Ajit Ghose

• Origin

  India

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1590s, 1580s

• Name

  Ghose, Ajit

• Place

  India

• Topic

  Rites and ceremonies, South Asian and Himalayan Art, Art, Animals, Drums (Membranophones), Food habits, Cymbal, Mughal dynasty (1526 - 1858), Reign of Akbar (1556 - 1605), Reed instrument, Horses, Lute

• Culture

  Himalayan peoples, South Asians

• Language

  Nasta?li-q script

• Object Type

  Paintings