Two Persian noblemen

Object Details

• Court

  Mughal Court

• School/Tradition

  Mughal school

• Description

  Detached album folio; Two Persian nobleman; marginal calligraphy with nineteen couplets from the Diwan of Hafiz; text in Persian, black nasta'liq script.

  Border: The painting is set in gold rulings surrounded by calligraphic panels in the margin, a red floral scroll and a narrow band of black and gold outer frame, mounted on a brown-colored paperboard.

• Inscriptions

  Verso: 18 underlined, written in black ink

  Verso: 59 underlined, initial 2 crossed out, written in ink and pencil

  Verso: zxxpr written in black ink

  Verso: 1047 written in black ink

  Verso: 1047 written in black ink

• Provenance

  ?-1911

  Claude Anet (1868-1931), method of acquisition unknown [1]

  1911-1942

  Henri Vever (1854-1942), acquired as partial gift/exchange from Georges Demotte [2]

  1942-1947

  Jeanne Louise Monthiers (1861-1947), bequest of Henri Vever [3]

  1947-1986

  Francois Mautin (1907-2003), bequest of Jeanne Louise Monthiers and Henri Vever [4]

  From 1986

  Arthur M. Sackler Gallery purchased from Francois Mautin [5]

  Notes:

  [1] This is likely one of the three works Henri Vever purchased on October 19, 1911 from Claude Anet. This work is

  described as “1 miniature très effacée – 2 personnages avec sabres.” See Henri Vever Account Ledger, October 19, 1911, annotation at bottom of page, FSA A1988.042.2, from Henri Vever Papers. National Museum of Asian Art Archives. Jean Schopfer – a writer, tennis player, collector, and dealer – used the pseudonym Claude Anet to publicly identify himself. He served in the First World War and developed a passion for Persian and Indo-Persian paintings and manuscripts. He frequently traveled to Iran to make purchases and detailed his collecting activities in the book “Feuilles persanes” (1924). Vever acquired this work at Anet’s antiquities gallery at 18 rue Godot in Paris.

  [2] See note 1. An accomplished French jeweler and collector, Henri Vever (1854-1942) amassed a large and impressive collection of works of art during his lifetime. His holdings in Japanese prints and Islamic arts of the books, especially from Iran and India were among the most important assembled in the early twentieth century. This object was in Vever's

  collection at the time of his death in 1942.

  [3] Upon Henri Vever's death on September 25, 1942, his wife, Jeanne Louise Monthiers inherited the object. See exhibits F and G of Agreement of Purchase and Sale of the Henri Vever Collection, January 9, 1986, copy in object file.

  [4] Upon the death of Jeanne Louise Monthiers, as stipulated in the will of Henri Vever, the family's assets were divided evenly between his two grandchildren. His only grandson, Francois Mautin inherited the collection known as "The Henri Vever Collection of Oriental Art and Manuscripts Including Persian and Indian Art and Manuscripts." This object is part of that collection. See exhibits F and G as cited in note 3.

  [5] The Arthur M. Sackler Gallery purchased the entirety of the collection from Francois Mautin on January 9, 1986. See purchase agreement, copy in object file.

  Research updated January 24, 2024.

• Collection

  Arthur M. Sackler Collection

• Previous custodian or owner

  Claude Anet (1868-1931)

  Henri Vever (1854-1942)

  Jeanne Louise Monthiers (1861-1947)

  Francois Mautin (1907-2003)

• Origin

  India

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Smithsonian Unrestricted Trust Funds, Smithsonian Collections Acquisition Program, and Dr. Arthur M. Sackler

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1650s, 1670s

• Name

  Mautin, Francois Albert, Anet, Claude, Monthiers, Jeanne Louise, Vever, Henri

• Place

  India

• Topic

  South Asian and Himalayan Art, Art, Henri Vever collection, Swords, Mughal dynasty (1526 - 1858)

• Culture

  Himalayan peoples, South Asians

• Object Type

  Paintings