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A RARE AND LARGE MUGHAL PAINTING OF A COURTESAN, NORTH INDIA, 17TH-18TH CENTURY
奥地利
2025年10月16日 开拍
拍品描述
A RARE AND LARGE MUGHAL PAINTING OF A COURTESAN, NORTH INDIA, 17TH-18TH CENTURYExpert's note: Mughal paintings of this size are exceptionally rare. A large-format work (119 × 40 cm), linked to the Kangra court artist Purkhu and dated mid-18th to early 19th century, was sold here on 10 April 2025 (lot 218) for EUR 143,000 (fig. 1). The monumental scale and rich coloring of the present portrait reflect the influence of European oil painting. Notably, large-format European works were circulating at the Mughal court as early as 1602, and Jahangir famously displayed English portraits behind his throne during the New Year festival of 1616-17. The current lot resonates closely with the celebrated, slightly larger Mandu painting of Emperor Jahangir (see auction result comparison)—described by Bonhams as the largest known Mughal portrait—demonstrating how the Mughal atelier adapted its refined miniature tradition to monumental formats while maintaining extraordinary precision of line and luxuriant surface detail. A later art-historical echo may also be seen in Francesco Renaldi's 1787 portrait of a Mughal Lady (fig. 2), seated in an interior, executed in Calcutta, which exemplifies European academic portraiture adopted in the subcontinent by the late 18th century. This work underscores how unfamiliar Western modes likewise penetrated India's visual culture—and by extension, how Mughal court artists may have been aware of such European conventions. Both the Mandu Jahangir and the current lot share distinctive iconographic details: the graceful curl unfurling by the ear, the ankle folds of the churidar (bangles), and a confident, bold handling of form. These affinities reveal a sustained thread of stylistic and conceptual sophistication that connects imperial workshops across centuries. While smaller Mughal portraits reflect intimacy, works of this scale function as bold declarations of status, presence, and painterly virtuosity.Gold, ink, and watercolors on cloth. Finely painted with a lady shown in full profile against a dark green ground, standing and holding five floral stems, three in bloom and two in bud. She wears a sheer peshwaz over the pleated golden-brown lehenga matching her slippers and the rose-colored churidar patterned with delicate floral motifs and gathering at the ankles in characteristic folds, and a gossamer green-tinted odhni richly decorated with small flowerheads echoing the blooms in her hand, worn over her head and draped loosely across her bare breasts. On her feet are embroidered gold slippers.She is sumptuously adorned with pearl-strung armlets and bracelets, large gold earrings with pendant drops set with emeralds and rubies, a nose ring on each nostril, multiple strings of pearls around the neck, and a delicate pearl hairpiece. The forehead and cheeks are embellished with further jewels.Her face is exquisitely rendered with almond-shaped eyes framed by long, tapering lashes and highlighted with kohl and a green cosmetic tint, below elegantly arched brows, and above slender pursed lips touched with a faint, knowing smile. The long dark hair is pulled back, falling over the shoulders, with a single curl gracefully unfurling below the ear.Provenance: A private collection in Rhineland, Germany, and thence by descent.Condition: Very good condition with expected wear, minimal soiling, and few minor losses to pigments.Dimensions: Image size 175.6 x 114.5 cm, Size incl. frame 180.5 x 118.6 cmMounted on wood and framed. (2)Courtesans in Mughal India occupied a complex position at the intersection of art, culture, and courtly politics. Renowned not only for their beauty but also for their refinement in music, poetry, and dance, they were arbiters of taste and style within the elite circles they inhabited. Painters often portrayed them in the same sumptuous attire and jewelry as noblewomen, their identities signaled less by costume than by the intimate or languid contexts in which they appeared. Such portraits—frequently shown in profile, holding flowers, or engaged in leisurely pursuits—were not mere records of likeness but idealized evocations of feminine allure and accomplishment. Executed with the same precision and luxurious detail as imperial portraits, these images reveal how the Mughal atelier translated the charisma of the courtesan into a timeless emblem of grace and cultivated sensuality.Literature comparison: Compare a related miniature painting of a lady with a flower at night, attributed to Himachal Pradesh and dated to the 18th century, in the Harvard Art Museums, object number 1972.357.Auction result comparison: Type: Closely related Auction: Bonhams London, 5 April 2011, lot 322 Price: GBP 1,420,000 or approx. EUR 2,857,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing : The Largest Known Mughal Portrait: A Magnificent Life-Size Painting In Which The Emperor Jahangir (Reg. 1605 - 1627), The 'World-Seizer', Lays Claim To Spiritual And Temporal Power On A Global Stage, Attributed to Abu'l Hasan, Nadir al-Zaman painted at Mandu and dated AH 1026/AD 1617 Expert remark: Compare the related size (197 x 128.5), manner of painting, and composition, with similar rich details, plain background, curl above the ear, and folds at the ankles.

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拍品估价:5,000 - 10,000 欧元 起拍价格:5,000 欧元  买家佣金:

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