The King's Favorite Courtesan is Abducted by Sea

Object Details

• Artist

  Attributed to Mushfiq

• Court

  Mughal Court

• School/Tradition

  Mughal school

• Provenance

  Ca. 1610-?

  Abd al-Rahim (1556-1627), by commission possibly from the artist, Mushfiq [1]

  ?-?

  Mughal Library, Delhi, India, method of acquisition unknown [2]

  ?-at least early 1945

  Ownership information unknown

  At least early 1945-1945

  Heeramaneck Galleries (active 1928-1964), New York, NY, method of acquisition unknown [3]

  From 1945

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Heeramaneck Galleries [4]

  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. 15, 15A, pp. 92, 213 (“Mushfiq”). See also John Seyller, “Workshop and Patron in Mughal India: The Freer Ramayana and Other Illustrated Manuscripts of Abd al-Rahim,” from “Artibus Asiae. Supplementum,” vol. 42, 1999, p. 273, fig. 203. This painting illustrates a scene from the Hasht Bihisht section of the Khamsa (Quintet) which was written by Amir Khusraw Dihlavi (1253-1325) in 1301-1302. Amir Khusraw Dihlavi was a favorite poet of the Mughal emperors and the Mughal court. The painting was commissioned by Abd al-Rahim as a part of a ten-year project to restore and reassemble an older Khamsa manuscript. The restored manuscript was completed in 1617 when the book was accessioned into Abd al-Rahim’s library.

  Abd al-Rahim (1556-1627) was a poet and patron of the arts. He was also the Khankhanan or Commander in Chief of the Mughal armies during the late 16th and early 17th centuries.

  Mushfiq was an artist active under the patronage of Abd al-Rahim (1556-1627).

  [2] See Seyller, p. 273. The flyleaf of the manuscript (Staatsbibliothek, Berlin, Or. Fol. 1278, f, 1a) indicates that Abd al-Rahim’s restored manuscript later entered the collection of the Mughal emperors.

  [3] See letter and object list from Nasli Heeramaneck to Richard Ettinghausen, dated February 21, 1945, copy in object file. Nasli Heeramaneck’s letter states that he has shipped this object to the Freer Gallery of Art. Object is described as, “Indian painting representing mounted warriors at the shore being approached by d[????]tains in a boat. Mughal school, second half 16th Cent.”

  Heeramaneck Galleries in New York, NY owned and operated by Nasli M. (1902-1971) and Alice N. Heeramaneck (née Arvine) (1910-1993). The Heeramaneck’s were dealers and collectors of Pre-Columbian and Asian art. Nasli Heeramaneck began his career as a dealer in Paris during the 1920s and relocated to New York, NY in 1927. In 1939, Nasli married Alice Arvine, an American portrait painter from New Haven, CT. Nasli founded Heeramaneck Galleries in New York, NY by 1928. He began to retire in 1964 and liquidated some of the gallery’s stock at auction at Parke-Barnet, New York in 1964 and 1965. Many objects from the Heeramaneck collection were either purchased or donated to American museums. Items from their collection may be found in The British Museum; the Cleveland Museum of Art; Los Angeles County Museum; The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; National Museum of New Delhi; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts; and Yale University.

  [4] See object file for copy of the Heeramaneck Galleries invoice to Freer Gallery of Art, dated May 26, 1945, and marked approved on May 19, 1945. Object is described as, “Indian painting of the Abduction of a Princess by sea, Mughal School, 16th century.”

  Research updated November 7, 2023

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

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

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

• Previous custodian or owner

  Abd al-Rahim (1556-1627)

  Mughal Library

  Heeramaneck Galleries (active 1928-1964)

• 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

  1610s, 1600s

• Name

  al-Rahim, Abd, Heeramaneck Galleries, Mughal Library

• Place

  India

• Topic

  South Asian and Himalayan Art, Boats and boating, Art, Animals, Princess, Reign of Jahangir (1605 - 1627), Mughal dynasty (1526 - 1858), Abduction, Horses, Ocean, Fishing

• Culture

  Himalayan peoples, South Asians

• Object Type

  Paintings