Rare Paintings
 30 Jul 2012 Rare Paintings
One of a pair of bangles, Madras, India, about 1870

Gold and gilt metal set with rubies. Each bangle has a flat gold band, engraved, with two flat square plates arranged on the top lozenge-wise; on each of these plates is a bird, and between the plates rises an expanded flower, set with rubies... Read More
 28 Jul 2012 Rare Paintings
New Book:
Princes and Painters in Mughal Delhi, 1707-1857
By William Dalrymple (Editor), Yuthika Sharma (Editor)
Publisher: Yale University Press - 2012

At the peak of their power, from the mid-16th century through 1857, the Mughals ruled over some 100 million subjects — five times the num... Read More
 27 Jul 2012 Rare Paintings
Five Recruits: Ummee Chund, Indur, Goolzaree, Bukhtawur and Juhaz - ca. 1815-1816
Watercolor on paper
H: 27.0 W: 39.0 cm
India

This is a painting of five men recruited by William Fraser (1784–1835), a political officer in the East India Company responsible for recruiting and maintaining an irr... Read More
 25 Jul 2012 Rare Paintings
Shahjahan's bookplate!

"Rosette Bearing the Names and Titles of Shah Jahan", Folio from the Shah Jahan Album - 1645 AD

A shamsa (literally, sun) traditionally opened imperial Mughal albums. Worked in bright colors and several tones of gold, the meticulously designed and painted arabesques are e... Read More
 24 Jul 2012 Rare Paintings
A truly remarkable project on Lalbagh! It would be wonderful if similar studies are undertaken in other Indian cities as well...

USING SATELLITE IMAGERY AND HISTORICAL MAPS TO STUDY THE ORIGINAL CONTOURS OF LALBAGH BOTANICAL GARDEN
By Meera Iyer, Harini Nagendra and M. B. Rajani

The Lalbagh Bot... Read More
 23 Jul 2012 Rare Paintings
The Sougandhika Parinaya Manuscript (1821 CE)
By Jyotsna Kamat

Mummadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar had the longest reign among rulers of Mysore (1799 - 1868). He had varied interests in life -- music, painting, literature -- each of which he loved and tried his hand in. He spent liberally on promotion o... Read More
 22 Jul 2012 Rare Paintings
A shaykh and companions listen to music at night. (c.1645)
Lalchand (artist, attributed)
Watercolour and gilt on paper

By permission of The Bodleian Library, University of Oxford Read More
 22 Jul 2012 Rare Paintings
Jahangir and Prince Khurram after a hunt. (c. 1615 or 1640-50)

Watercolour and gilt on paper

By permission of The Bodleian Library, University of Oxford Read More
 22 Jul 2012 Rare Paintings
Shah Jahan receiving artists or scholars. (c.1650)

From an album of Indian paintings, chiefly from the Shahjahan period (1628-1658), expressive of the Mughal lineage of Shahjahan; with 37 calligraphic specimens by Mīr Alī-alkātib, dated 1530 (A.H. 937) on fol. 55a ; and 9 leaves of text, fols.... Read More
 22 Jul 2012 Rare Paintings
Dancers at Akbar's court. (c.1565)

Watercolour and gilt on paper

By permission of The Bodleian Library, University of Oxford Read More
 22 Jul 2012 Rare Paintings
BAHADUR SHAH I

Bahadur Shah I was the Mughal emperor from 1707-1712. In this painting, dating probably to about 1712, he is depicted by the unknown artist in a way that differs considerably from that in which Mughal portrait subjects had hitherto been shown, and which relates more to European ... Read More
 22 Jul 2012 Rare Paintings
Close-up view of Mr. Donnithorne's Bungalow - 1815

Watercolour of Mr. Donnithorne's bungalow from 'Views by Seeta Ram from Agra to Barrackpore Vol. X' produced for Lord Moira, afterwards the Marquess of Hastings, by Sita Ram between 1814-15. Marquess of Hastings, the Governor-General of Bengal... Read More
 21 Jul 2012 Rare Paintings
Painting; Gouache, A Malabar doctor and his wife, Tanjore, ca. 1790

Copyright: © V&A Images Read More
 21 Jul 2012 Rare Paintings
A doctor with a female patient.

Marks and inscriptions: 'hakim kih maraz mibinad'

Paintings, watercolour, Lucknow, ca.1850

Copyright: © V&A Images Read More
 20 Jul 2012 Rare Paintings
A young nobleman and a singer - 1650

A well-dressed noble youth sits at ease on a rock by a small brook under a tree listening to a kneeling man who is singing from a book. The youth is dressed in a vibrant plain orange jama with golden lappets decorated in a crimson running pattern under his ... Read More
 20 Jul 2012 Rare Paintings
A night scene with a kneeling lady with two female attendants visiting a hermit seated in front of a cave in a wooded landscape under a starry sky and crescent moon. In the immediate foreground is a stretch of water with three pairs of diminutive birds at its edge. Above this the group of three f... Read More
 20 Jul 2012 Rare Paintings
PORTRAIT OF A SAYYED (DESCENDANT OF THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD)
Gouache and gold on paper
Bijapur, Deccan
c. 1650

An inscription on the back of the painting dated 1691 records it as having been in the Treasury at Adoni in the Deccan, near Kurnool, perhaps reflecting the dispersal of its conten... Read More
 19 Jul 2012 Rare Paintings
'The Lord White Elephant' - 1855

Watercolour with pen and ink of the “Lord White Elephant”, a rare and auspicious white elephant kept by the King at Amarapura from 'A Series of Views in Burmah taken during Major Phayre’s Mission to the Court of Ava in 1855' by Colesworthy Grant. This album con... Read More
 19 Jul 2012 Rare Paintings
The White Elephant Palace, within Royal Palace Grounds - 1855

Watercolour with pen and ink of the ceremonial pavilion in the Palace occupied by a rare and auspicious white elephant kept by the King from 'A Series of Views in Burmah taken during Major Phayre’s Mission to the Court of Ava in 185... Read More
 17 Jul 2012 Rare Paintings
RAMA'S BATTLE WAGON, Andhra Pradesh,INDIA - Mid 18th Century
Ink and watercolour on paper, Telugu inscription at top edge

Source: www.sothebys.com Read More
 16 Jul 2012 Rare Paintings
Opaque watercolour on paper, group of Rajput nobles, posssibly Raja Ajit SIngh (1678-1725) of Jodhpur with his sons and grandsons, Jodhpur, c. 1725.

The uncluttered lines and earthy colours of this painting are typical of western Rajasthan, especially Jodhpur, in the early 18th century. It has... Read More