Birds at Baran, possibly from the Babur-nama

Object Details

• Court

  Mughal Court

• School/Tradition

  Mughal school

• Provenance

  Before 1890

  Ownership information unknown

  By 1890-1907

  Colonel Henry Bathurst Hanna (1839-1914), method of acquisition unknown [1]

  1907-1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Colonel Henry Bathurst Hanna [2]

  From 1920

  Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer [3]

  Notes:

  [1] See “Catalogue of Indo-Persian Pictures and Manuscripts, Principally of the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth Centuries by Native Artists, Collected by H. B. Hanna” [book], (London: Dowdeswell and Dowdeswells, 1890).

  Colonel Henry Bathurst Hanna (1839-1914) was an officer in the British military and a collector of Indian paintings. Born in Petersfield, Hampshire, England, Hanna’s family later moved to London, where he was baptized in 1851. Beginning in 1857, Hanna served as a commissioned officer in the Indian Army and retired with the rank of Colonel in 1889. After his retirement, he resided in London and Petersfield with his younger sisters. According to Hanna, he began collecting Indian paintings around the time of the Indian Rebellion (1857-1859). See letter from Henry Bathurst Hanna to Charles Lang Freer, dated April 10, 1908 [sic, 1907], p. 3, Box 17, Folder No. 10, Charles Lang Freer Papers, National Museum of Asian Art Archives, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

  [2] See Charles Lang Freer art voucher no. 24, “For a collection of Indo-Persian pictures and manuscripts” from H. B. Hanna of Heathmere, Petersfield, Hants. [Hampshire], England, from October 1907, Box 114, Folder No. 12, Charles Lang Freer Papers, National Museum of Asian Art Archives, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., copy in object file.

  [3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

  Research updated April 19, 2024

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

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

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

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

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

• Previous custodian or owner

  Colonel Henry Bathurst Hanna (1839-1914) (C.L. Freer source)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  India

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1600s, 1550s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, Hanna, Henry Bathurst

• Place

  India

• Topic

  South Asian and Himalayan Art, Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Animals, Mughal dynasty (1526 - 1858), Birds

• Culture

  Himalayan peoples, South Asians

• Object Type

  Paintings