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

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

• Previous custodian or owner

  Mughal Imperial Library

  Persian Imperial Library

  Russian Imperial Library

  Terence McInerney Fine Arts, Ltd.

• 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

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1670s, 1760s

• Name

  Library, Persian Imperial, Library, Russian Imperial, Library, Mughal Imperial, McInerney, Terence

• Place

  India

• Topic

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

• Culture

  Himalayan peoples, South Asians

• Tax Class

  Mammalia

• Tax Order

  Proboscidea

• Tax Family

  Elephantidae

• Tax Phylum

  Chordata

• Common Name

  Elephants

• Object Type

  Paintings

• Tax Kingdom

  Animalia