Mongol Chieftain and Attendants, folio from the Gulshan Album (Rose Garden album)

Object Details

• Court

  Mughal Court

• School/Tradition

  Mughal school

• Label

  The headdress on the central figure suggests that he is a Mongol, a term which in altered form became Mughal. It has been suggested that the central figure here portrays Genghiz Khan, the most celebrated ruler of the Mongols.

  Babur (1526–30), the founder of the Mughal dynasty of India, was a Turk; he was descended from Timur on his father's side and was related to Genghiz Khan through his mother. The Mughal emperors celebrated their central Asian ancestry, and their forefathers were often represented in album paintings.

• Provenance

  At least ca. 1600

  Jahangir (1569-1627; reign 1605-1627), by commission [1]

  At least ca. 1600-1739

  Mughal Library, Delhi, India, under Muhammad Shah (1702-1748; reign 1719-1748) [2]

  1739-late 19th century

  Imperial Library, Tehran, under Nadir Shah (1688-1747; reign 1736-1747) and subsequent rulers of Iran, Nadir Shah had paintings and manuscripts taken from the Mughal library during his invasion of Delhi, India [3]

  Late 19th century-at least 1950

  Ownership information unknown

  At least 1950-1952

  Marguerite Mallon (d. 1977), method of acquisition unknown [4]

  From 1952

  National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, purchased from Marguerite Mallon [5]

  Notes:

  [1] See Milo Beach, “Imperial Image: Paintings from the Mughal Court,” (Washington, DC and Ahmedabad, India: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and Mapin International Inc., 2012), p. 107, cat. 20c, ill.

  See also Kambiz Eslami, “Golšan Album” [encyclopedia article], from Encyclopædia Iranica, XI/1, pp. 77-79; available at https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/golsan-album (accessed online at June 27, 2024).

  [2] See note 1.

  [3] See note 1. During the invasion of Delhi, India in 1739, Nadir Shah had luxury goods, including paintings and manuscripts, taken from the Mughal library during the reign of Muhammad Shah.

  [4] See offer letter from Marguerite Mallon to Richard Ettinghausen, dated March 30, 1950, copy in object file. Marguerite Mallon states that she “reached New-York a few days ago [from Cairo]. My husband, unfortunately, could not come with us. We have in Customs right now a most interesting post-Sasanian bronze [incense burner] [(now F1952.1)] that I very much wish you to see. Also[,] a lovely Indo-Persian miniature of the 16th century. I would very much like to take both down to you in Washington.”

  Marguerite Mallon (d. 1977) and her husband Paul Mallon (1884-1975) were art dealers in France and connoisseurs who took great interest in ancient Egyptian, Greek, Roman, and Byzantine art. During the 1920s and 1930s, Paul Mallon owned a gallery on the Champs-Elysées, specializing in ancient Chinese art. By the late 1930s the Mallons were operating out of the Gladstone Hotel in New York City, selling to a number of American museums.

  See letters between Marguerite Mallon to Richard Ettinghausen, dated May 17, 1950 and December 20, 1950, copies in object file. The object was transferred from Marguerite Mallon to the Freer Gallery of Art for acquisition consideration between May 17, 1950 and December 20, 1950.

  [5] See object file for copy of invoice from Marguerite Mallon to Freer Gallery of Art, dated December 27, 1951, and marked approved on April 17, 1951. Object is described as, “Indo-Persian miniature, Early XVIIth century."

  The object is part of the museum’s Freer Gallery of Art Collection.

  Research updated July 5, 2024

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Body Image (October 14, 2017 - ongoing)

  Muraqqa: Imperial Mughal Albums from the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin (May 3 to August 3, 2008)

  At the Margins (June 4 to November 30, 1997)

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

  The Arts of South Asia (May 13, 1985 to December 2, 1985)

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

  The Brush of the Masters: Drawings from India (October 14, 1978 to May 15, 1979)

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

  Centennial Exhibition, West Corridor (February 25, 1956 to July 11, 1958)

  Special Exhibition, Near Eastern Art (September 15, 1953 to February 9, 1954)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Jahangir جهانگیر (1569-1627)

  Mughal Library

  Muhammad Shah (1702-1748; reign 1719-1748)

  Nadir Shah (1688-1747; reigned 1736-1747)

  Imperial Library (Tehran)

  Marguerite Mallon (died 1977)

• Origin

  India

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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  The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The National Museum of Asian Art welcomes information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections.

Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1590s, 1600s

• Name

  Shah, Nadir, Jahangir, Imperial Library (Tehran), Muhammad Shah, Mughal Library, Mallon, Marguerite

• Place

  India

• Topic

  South Asian and Himalayan Art, Art, Animals, Drums (Membranophones), Reign of Jahangir (1605 - 1627), Mughal dynasty (1526 - 1858), Birds, Attendant, Lute

• Culture

  Himalayan peoples, South Asians

• Language

  Nasta?li-q script

• Object Type

  Paintings