Young Akbar Recognizes His Mother, from an Akbarnama

Object Details

• Artist

  Attributed to Madhava

• Court

  Mughal Court

• School/Tradition

  Mughal school

• Provenance

  ?-?

  Demotte, Inc., Paris, France and New York, NY, method of acquisition unknown [1]

  ?-1939

  Heeramaneck Galleries (active 1928-1964), New York, NY, method of acquisition unknown [2]

  From 1939

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Heeramaneck Galleries [3]

  Notes:

  [1] See the Galerie Demotte Photographic Archive, Musée du Louvre, Paris, https://corpus.louvre.fr/s/corpus/item/37921, accessed November 16, 2023. Object is described as, “Scène de cour avec un couple et un petit enfant.”

  Georges Demotte (1877-1923) was a collector and dealer of Islamic and medieval European art. He had galleries in Paris and New York City.

  [2] See untitled incoming receipt of objects owned by the Heeramaneck Galleries, undated (ca. 1939), copy in object file. The object was transferred from the Heeramaneck Galleries to the Freer Gallery of Art for acquisition consideration on October 2, 1939. Object is described as, “Miniature painting of many figures.”

  Heeramaneck Galleries in New York, NY owned and operated by Nasli M. (1902-1971) and Alice N. Heeramaneck (née Arvine) (1910-1993). The Heeramaneck’s were dealers and collectors of Pre-Columbian and Asian art. Nasli Heeramaneck began his career as a dealer in Paris during the 1920s and relocated to New York, NY in 1927. In 1939, Nasli married Alice Arvine, an American portrait painter from New Haven, CT. Nasli founded Heeramaneck Galleries in New York, NY by 1928. He began to retire in 1964 and liquidated some of the gallery’s stock at auction at Parke-Barnet, New York in 1964 and 1965. Many objects from the Heeramaneck collection were either purchased or donated to American museums. Items from their collection may be found in The British Museum; the Cleveland Museum of Art; Los Angeles County Museum; The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; National Museum of New Delhi; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts; and Yale University.

  [3] See object file for copy of the Heeramaneck Galleries invoice to Freer Gallery of Art, dated November 30, 1939, and marked approved on November 22, 1939. Object is described as, “Miniature painting, Indian, Mughal, 16th century.”

  Research updated November 1, 2023

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Body Image (October 14, 2017 - ongoing)

  Worlds within Worlds: Imperial Paintings from India and Iran (July 28 to September 16, 2012)

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

  Female Imagery in Indian Painting (February 9 to August 5, 1996)

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

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

  Untitled Exhibition, Mughal Painting, 1947 (April 23 to September 30, 1947)

  Untitled Exhibition, Mughal Painting (December 20, 1944 to April 23, 1947)

  Untitled Exhibition, South Asian Paintings, Gallery 4 (May 5, 1933 to January 9, 1945)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Demotte, Inc.

  Heeramaneck Galleries (active 1928-1964)

• Origin

  India

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1590s, 1600s

• Name

  Demotte, Inc., Heeramaneck Galleries

• Place

  India

• Topic

  Akbarnama, South Asian and Himalayan Art, Prince, Art, Mughal dynasty (1526 - 1858), Reign of Akbar (1556 - 1605), Children

• Culture

  Himalayan peoples, South Asians

• Object Type

  Paintings