Portrait of Muhammad Shah Padishah

Object Details

• Provenance

  1928-at least 1934

  Demotte, Inc., New York, method of acquisition unknown [1]

  By 1943-1947

  Heeramaneck Galleries, New York, method of acquisition unknown [2]

  From 1947

  National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, purchased from Heeramaneck Galleries, New York [3]

  Notes:

  [1] See E. Blochet, “Catalogue of an Exhibition of Persian Paintings from the XIIth to the XVIIIth cent. Formerly from the Collections of the Shahs of Persia and the Great Moguls, held at the Galleries of Demotte, Inc.” [exhibition catalog] (New York: Demotte, Inc. 1928), cat. 110, p. 40. Described as “Portrait of a horseman, in full gallop, urging his horse with the short whip of the Cossacks, called the <>. Pen-drawing slightly enhanced by a few pale shades; Tauris, first half of the XVIth century. According to a note written on the reverse side, it represents the Emperor Mohammad Sha, beyond doubt Mohammad Khwarizm Shah (d. 1220).”

  See also Rudolf M. Riefstahl “An Exhibition of Persian and Indian Miniature Paintings” [exhibition catalog] (New York: Demotte, Inc., 1934), cat. 39, p. 25. Described as “Horseman in Full Gallop. Persia, first half of the sixteenth century. Portrait of a horseman in full gallop, urging his horse with the short whip of the Cossacks, called the “nagaika.” Drawing slightly enhanced by a few pale shades. Tabriz, first half of the XVIth Century. According to a note written on the reverse side, it represents the Emperor Mohammad Sha, beyond doubt Mohammad Khwarizm Shah (d. 1220).”

  Demotte, Inc. was established by Georges Demotte (1877-1923), a collector and dealer of Islamic and medieval European art. He had galleries in Paris and New York City. Demotte is known for having owned the manuscript of the Great Mongol Shahnama (Book of Kings) intact, but in the early twentieth century he dismantled the manuscript, splitting some of the folios which had illustrations on both sides so that he could sell the two leaves separately. He was married to Lucie Semha Stora (1876-1936), sister to art dealers Maurice (1879-1950) and Raphaël (1887-1963) Stora.

  In 1923, Georges Demotte died in a hunting accident, bequeathing his Paris and New York galleries to his seventeen-year-old son, Lucien. Lucien married twice, first to Andrée Kridel Wildenstein (1912-2012), daughter of art dealer Felix Wildenstein (1883-1952), in 1931, and then to Simonne Thibault in 1933. Lucien died of pneumonia the following year, in New York City.

  [2] See James V. Herring, “Islamic Art: An Exhibition of Metal Work, Pottery, Textiles and Persian Calligraphy and Miniatures. Lent by Heeramaneck Galleries, New York” [exhibition catalog] (Washington D. C., Howard University, 1943), p. 6, no. 13, “Pen-drawing, slightly enhanced by a few pale shades, of a horseman in full gallop, urging his horse with the short whip of the Cossacks, called the “Nagaika.” While it is not known when this object transferred from Demotte, Inc., to Heeramaneck Galleries, it likely occurred following the death of Lucien Demotte in 1934.

  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.

  [3] See object file for copy of Heeramaneck Galleries invoice to the Freer Gallery of Art, dated September 23, 1947, and approved by the Secretary on February 25, 1947. This work is part of the Museum’s Freer Gallery of Art Collection.

  Research updated January 18, 2024

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Arts of the Islamic World (May 3, 1998 to January 3, 2016)

  From the Hand of Mani (January 18, 1985 to July 5, 1985)

  The Brush of the Masters: Drawings from Iran (October 14, 1978 to May 30, 1979)

  Centennial Exhibition, Galleries 6 and 7 (February 25, 1956 to April 10, 1962)

  Untitled Exhibition, Islamic Manuscripts, Pottery, Metalwork, and Glass (April 12, 1955 to November 21, 1955)

  Special Exhibition, Near Eastern Art (September 15, 1953 to February 9, 1954)

  Untitled Exhibition, Islamic Arts, 1947 (October 6, 1947 to February 25, 1956)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Demotte, Inc.

  Heeramaneck Galleries (active 1928-1964)

• Origin

  Iran

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Drawing

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1700s, 1710s, 1720s, 1500s, 1610s, 1600s, 1590s, 1540s, 1650s, 1530s, 1640s, 1520s, 1630s, 1510s, 1620s, 1580s, 1730s, 1690s, 1570s, 1680s, 1560s, 1670s, 1550s, 1660s

• Name

  Demotte, Inc., Heeramaneck Galleries

• Topic

  S?afavid dynasty, 1501-1736, Arrow, Art, Animals, Horsemen and horsewomen, Horses, Arts of the Islamic World, Portraits, Bow

• Culture

  Muslims, Iranians

• Object Type

  Drawings