A Spotted Forktail

Object Details

• Court

  Mughal Court

• School/Tradition

  Mughal school

• Label

  This nineteenth-century bird study, inscribed to artists of the seventeenth century, is intriguing in that it challenges the Western notion of a copy as not merely an inferior work but actually a forgery. Indian artists did not consider it inappropriate or deceitful to closely copy a fine painting, including even the original artist's signature. Rather, they looked upon it as a tribute to the earlier artist.

  The Spotted Forktail is a Himalayan bird that lives near streams that run through densly forested ravines. Its black-and-white plumage provides camouflage among the rocks and water as it searches for insects. To produce this copy of a work by the noted seventeenth-century artist Abul Hasan, the artist has inverted a tracing of the original, thereby reversing the image. He has misattributed it to the other famed natural history painter, Mansur. An inner border of rhyming couplets and a second border of palmettes and flower heads separate the painting from its wide outer floral border.

• Provenance

  At least 1605-?

  Jahangir (1569-1627, reign 1605-1627); Shah Jahan (1592-1666; reign 1628-1658), by inheritance; Aurangzeb (ca. 1618-1707; reign 1658-1707), by inheritance [1]

  ?-ca. 1820

  Ownership information unknown

  Ca. 1820-?

  Unidentified dealer, Delhi, India, method of acquisition unknown, commissioned additional folios from unidentified artist(s) in India [2]

  ?-?

  Ownership information unknown

  ?-1929

  Unidentified dealer, Scotland, method of acquisition unknown [3]

  1929-December 12, 1929

  Jack S. Rofe (1889-1934), purchased from unidentified dealer in Scotland [4]

  December 12, 1929

  Sale, London, England, Sotheby’s, “Valuable Oriental Manuscripts and Miniatures,” December 12, 1929 [5]

  December 12, 1929-1939

  H. Kevorkian, New York, NY, purchased at December 12, 1929, Sotheby’s Sale “Valuable Oriental Manuscripts and Miniatures,” London [6]

  From 1939

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from H. Kevorkian [7]

  Notes:

  [1] See Milo Beach, “The Imperial Image: Paintings for the Mughal Court,” (Washington, DC and Ahmedabad, India: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and Mapin International Inc., 2012), p. 142. The Kevorkian album (also known as the Shah Jahan Album) is a series of folios produced between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. The album was first assembled by the Mughal emperor Jahangir (1569-1627, reign 1605-1627). Following Jahangir’s death, the album passed to at least two of his successors, Shah Jahan (1592-1666; reign 1628-1658) and Aurangzeb (ca. 1618-1707; reign 1658-1707).

  [2] See Stuart Cary Welch, “The Emperors' Album: Images of Mughal India,” (New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1987), pp. 11-12. Around 1820, presumably an art dealer in Delhi commissioned several folios to supplement the seventeenth century originals he had obtained.

  F1939.46a-b, F1939.47a-b, F1939.48a-b, F1948.19a-b, and F1948.21a-b have been identified as being among the 19th century folios added to the album.

  During the summer of 1929, Jack S. Rofe (1889-1934) purchased the album from an antique shop in Scotland while he was on holiday. Prior to returning home to Egypt, Rofe took the album to Sotheby’s in London for evaluation, where it was put up for auction on December 12, 1929. The New York dealer, Hagop Kevorkian (1872-1962), purchased the album from the Sotheby’s sale.

  Kevorkian subsequently sold five pages to the Freer Gallery of Art in 1939. In 1948, Kevorkian sold four additional pages to the Freer Gallery of Art.

  [3] See note 2.

  [4] See note 2.

  Jack Sidney Rofe (1889-1934) was born Jacques Sidney Rofe in Manchester, England to David (1844-1919) and Henrietta Rofe (1860-1943). Rofe joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve in 1915 and he was demobilized in 1919. Following his military service, Rofe married Ida Celeste Rofe (1900-1941) and he worked as a textile exporter in England and Alexandria, Egypt. Other works from Rofe’s collection maybe found at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

  [5] See Sotheby's, “Catalogues of Valuable Oriental Manuscripts and Miniatures, Comprising a Series of Very Important Indian drawings by the Court Painters of the Great Moghul Emperors, Shah Jahan and Aurangzib, the Property of a Gentleman” [auction catalogue], (London: Sotheby’s, December 12, 1929), lots 101-148, pp. 13-19.

  [6] See letter from Hagop Kevorkian to John Lodge, dated October 22, 1938, copy in object file. The letter, written on “Savoy Hotel London” letterhead, states “My dear Mr. Lodge, [/] Just a line to inform you that I have planned to sail for [the] United States early next month and to bring the Shah Jahan Album. [/] After the scare & panic of last weeks the situation is becoming normal again, I see in the [press?] that considerable improvement is set in the affairs of [the] United States too. [/] With regards and hoping that you are in good health[.] I remain [/] yours sincerely, [/] H. Kevorkian.” The “scare & panic” is in reference to Europe on the brink of war.

  See also the untitled incoming receipt, dated November 28, 1938, copy in object file. The objects were first transferred from H. Kevorkian, New York, NY, to the Freer Gallery of Art for acquisition consideration on November 28, 1938.

  Object is described as, “1 Indian album (50 pages and 2 covers).”

  Hagop Kevorkian (1872-1962) was a dealer and collector of Islamic Art with eponymous galleries in New York and Paris.

  [7] The Freer Gallery of Art paid H. Kevorkian in installments, the first was an advance payment on July 30, 1938, approved on July 30, 1938, and the last on July 14, 1939, approved on February 1, 1939. See object file for copies of invoices.

  See the related album folios: F1939.46a, F1939.46b, F1939.47a, F1939.47b, F1939.48a, F1939.48b, F1939.49a, F1939.49b, F1939.50a, F1939.50b, F1948.19a, F1948.19b, F1948.20, F1948.21a, F1948.21b, F1948.28.

  Research updated February 5, 2024

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  The Natural World in Indian Painting (September 4, 1996 to May 17, 1997)

  South and South East Asian Art (May 9, 1993 to February 7, 2000)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Jahangir جهانگیر (1569-1627)

  Shah Jahan (1592-1666; reigned 1628-1658)

  Emperor Aurangzeb (reigned 1658-1707)

  Jack S. Rofe (1889-1934)

  Hagop Kevorkian (1872-1962)

• Origin

  India

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1800s, 1890s

• Name

  Jahangir, Shah Jahan, Rofe, Jack S., Kevorkian, Hagop, Aurangzeb

• Place

  India

• Topic

  South Asian and Himalayan Art, Art, Animals, Reign of Jahangir (1605 - 1627), Mughal dynasty (1526 - 1858), Birds, Spotted forktail

• Culture

  Himalayan peoples, South Asians

• Object Type

  Paintings