Important Notice

  Lot 10 of 22  

INDIAN MINIATURE PAINTINGS AND WORKS OF ART
24-25 APRIL 2013
Estimate
$7,000 - 9,000
Rs 3,64,000 - 4,68,000


Winning Bid
$8,400
Rs 4,36,800
(Inclusive of Buyer's Premium)

USD payment only. Why?

DETAILS

Composite Horse with a Female Rider

Opaque watercolour heightened with gold on paper

Murshidabad, late 18th century

8.5 x 11.5 in


Representations of composite animals were very popular during Akbar's reign and were also known at Anegudi in South India during the 16th century.

The present work is a representation of a composite horse within a Murshidabad background.

Various animal, birds, fish and human figures compose the horse. It is not clear what the meaning of composite animals is, but it seems that they could have represented earth spirits perhaps of Sufi inspiration.

The centre of provincial government was transferred from Dacca to Murshidabad by Nawab Murshid Quli Khan (r. 1703-1727) in 1704, hence the name Murshidabad. The city soon became the centre of Muslim government for Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, and a school for provincial Mughal painting was quickly established there. It flourished until the end of the eighteenth century before European patronage began to influence the artists, hailing the arrival of the Company School style.

Composite Horse

PROVENANCE:
With an Officer of the East India Company, gifted by him to his daughter in the early 19th century

Category: Antiquty