Two Mughal Princesses Hunting Gamer Birds from the St. Petersburg Album

Object Details

• Artist

  Imad al-Hasani (died 1615)

• Borders

  Muhammad Baqir (mid-18th century)

  Muhammad Hadi (Iranian, active mid-18th century)

• Court

  Mughal Court

• School/Tradition

  Mughal school

• Description

  The borders (signed by M. Baqir) surrounding the painting are decorated in gold with animals in formalized landscapes.

  The borders (signed and dated 1757-58 by M. Hadi) surrounding the six panels of nasta'liq calligraphy are decorated with large floral arabesques in silver and gold on dark blue.

• Signatures

  Borders surrounding the painting signed by M. Baqir.

  Borders surrounding the painting signed by M. Baqir.

• Provenance

  To 1739

  Mughal Imperial Library, Delhi, to 1739 [1]

  To late 19th century

  Persian Imperial Library, to late 19th century [2]

  B y late 19th century

  Russian Imperial Library (probably), by late 19th century [3]

  Private collection, Europe [4]

  To 1994

  Terence McInerney Fine Arts Ltd., New York City, to 1994

  From 1994

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Terence McInerney Fine Arts Ltd. in 1994

  Notes:

  [1] Indian paintings in the St. Petersburg Album were taken from Delhi, India in the 1739 sack of the imperial capital of the Mughal dynasty (1526-1858) by Nadir Shah of Persia.

  Many of the finest Mughal paintings were included in the loot, and several were assembled (in Iran) into an album.

  In the later 19th century, the album was taken apart and dispersed in Europe - with the major portion ending up in the Russian Imperial Collections. Other works were sold through the art market at that time.

  All known pages from the St. Petersburg Album have been out of Iran for a century, and the Indian paintings were taken from India more than 250 years ago (see Curatorial Note 5, Milo C. Beach, March 4, 1994, in the object record).

  [2] See note 1.

  [3] See note 1.

  [4] See note 1.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

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

  Honoring Friends: Recent Gifts by Members of the Freer and Sackler Galleries (June 10 to November 25, 2001)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Mughal Library

  Imperial Library (Tehran)

  Russian Imperial Library

  Terence McInerney Fine Arts, Ltd. (active 1990-2013)

• Origin

  India

• Credit Line

  Purchase — funds provided by an anonymous donor and the Friends of Asian Arts

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1670s, 1760s

• Name

  Library, Russian Imperial, Imperial Library (Tehran), McInerney, Terence, Mughal Library

• Place

  India

• Topic

  South Asian and Himalayan Art, Art, Hunting, Animals, Mughal dynasty (1526 - 1858), Flowers, Elephants

• Culture

  Himalayan peoples, South Asians

• Object Type

  Paintings