Ascetic

Object Details

• Previous custodian or owner

  Abdur Rahman Chughtai (1897-1975)

  Jagdish Mittal

  Terence McInerney Fine Arts, Ltd.

• Provenance

  Abdur Rahman Chughtai (1899-1975), Lahore, Pakistan [1]

  To about 1970

  Jagdish Mittal, Hyderabad, India, to about 1970 [2]

  From about 1970

  Unknown European collector (#1), purchased from Jagdish Mittal about 1970 [3]

  Unknown European collector (#2) [4]

  To 2006

  Terence McInerney Fine Arts Ltd., New York City, to 2006 [5]

  From 2006

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Terence McInerney Fine Arts Ltd. in 2006

  Notes:

  [1] The painting was formerly in the collection of Abdur Rahman Chughtai (died 1975), one of Pakistan's leading twentieth century artists. Chughtai developed a modern style that drew upon Mughal and Pahari painting; he was also a collector of Mughal and Rajput works on paper. The painting's verso bears two signatures of Chughtai, as well as two obliterated stamps indicating that the painting was catalogued as part of the Chughtai private museum (which features the artist's twentieth-century paintings) in Lahore.

  Although there is no written documentation concerning this painting's provenance beyond the verso inscriptions, it is known to have been sold to a western collector, as were other pre-modern works from Chughtai's collection, sometime in the late 1960s or early 1970s.

  The drawing fragment, which has been in two European private collections successively over the last four decades, was earlier in the collection of Jagdish Mittal of Hyderabad, India. Mr. Mittal acquired the bulk of his painting collection in the 1950s and 1960s.

  The fragment is reported to have left India in the early 1970s (according to Curatorial Remark 1, Debra Diamond, September 5, 2006, in the object record).

  [2] According to the seller, September 1, 2006, as noted in the object record (see Curatorial Remark 2). Also, see note 1.

  [3] See note 2.

  [4] See note 2.

  [5] See note 2.

• Origin

  Basohli or Mankot, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab Hills, India

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Drawing

• Restrictions and Rights

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1740s, 1750s

• Name

  Mittal, Jagdish, Chughtai, Abdur Rahman, McInerney, Terence

• Place

  Punjab Hills, Basohli, Kashmir, Mankot, Jammu, India

• Topic

  South Asian and Himalayan Art, Art

• Culture

  Himalayan peoples, South Asians

• Object Type

  Drawings