A Prince on Horseback Offering Wine to a Youth in a Tree House from the Gulshan Album

Object Details

• Calligrapher

  Mir Ali (died 1556)

• Artist

  Attributed to Madhava (marginal figures)

• Court

  Mughal Court

• School/Tradition

  Mughal school

• Label

  This folio's delicately realized border depicts artisans involved in manuscript production. Proceeding counterclockwise from the top right, we see burnishing (smoothing and polishing) of paper, the stamping of designs into a leather cover, the sizing of the folios, a woodworker sawing a bookstand, the preparation of gold leaf and a calligrapher at work. The naturalistic modeling indicates that the border artist adopted the figural imagery from the European prints that circulated in the imperial court.

  The sample of calligraphy in the center of this folio was written by Mir Ali, a famous 16th-century artist who worked in Herat and Bukhara. The verses are from the Munajat of Abu Ismail Abdallah Ansari:

  The pir of Herat says: Eat no one's food; withhold food from on one. Fear not poverty. Recognize God as the [ultimate] giver. Eat what God gives, for it never decreases. Realize that your own little is better than others' much. [written by] the sinful slave Mir-Ali al Sultani.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Body Image (October 14, 2017 - ongoing)

  Worlds within Worlds: Imperial Paintings from India and Iran (July 28 to September 16, 2012)

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

  At the Margins (June 4 to November 30, 1997)

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

  From Concept to Context: Approaches to Asian and Islamic Calligraphy (July 28, 1986 to February 6, 1987)

  The Arts of South Asia (May 13, 1985 to December 2, 1985)

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

  The Brush of the Masters: Drawings from India (October 14, 1978 to May 15, 1979)

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

  Untitled Exhibition, South Asian Art, Gallery 8 (July 15, 1958 to January 1, 1963)

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

• 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, 1600s

• Name

  Madhava, Mir Ali

• Place

  India

• Topic

  Trees, South Asian and Himalayan Art, Prince, Art, Animals, Reign of Jahangir (1605 - 1627), Mughal dynasty (1526 - 1858), Horses

• Culture

  Himalayan peoples, South Asians

• Language

  Nasta?li-q script

• Object Type

  Paintings