id:			170778
accession number:	2013.289.a
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/2013.289.a
updated:		2022-01-04 17:57:08.504000

An African Lyre Player (recto), c. 1640–60. India, Deccan, 17th century. Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper, recto; page: 40.5 x 28.9 cm (15 15/16 x 11 3/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift in honor of Madeline Neves Clapp; Gift of Mrs. Henry White Cannon by exchange; Bequest of Louise T. Cooper; Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund; From the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection 2013.289.a

title:				An African Lyre Player (recto)
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			c. 1640–60
creation date earliest:		1635
creation date latest:		1665
current location:		
creditline:			Gift in honor of Madeline Neves Clapp; Gift of Mrs. Henry White Cannon by exchange; Bequest of Louise T. Cooper; Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund; From the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection
copyright:			

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culture:	India, Deccan, 17th century
technique:	ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper, recto
department:	Indian and Southeast Asian Art
collection:	Indian Art
type:		Painting
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

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measurements: Page: 40.5 x 28.9 cm (15 15/16 x 11 3/8 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

	inscription:	verso: six lines of Persian poetry in nast'aliq script on paper
	translation:	
	remark:		

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		Indian Gallery 242b Rotation – November 2016
	opening date:   2016-11-07T05:00:00
	<i>Indian Gallery 242b Rotation – November 2016</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (November 7, 2016-April 10, 2017).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

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PROVENANCE

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fun fact: 


digital description: 


wall description: 
The anonymity of the subject of this painting obscures whether this is a portrait of a historical person, or a generic depiction of a musician. The instrument in his hands is a bowl lyre, called a nanga, of the type from Nubia in northeastern Africa. Many Africans, mainly from Ethiopia, settled in the Deccan, on the western coast of southern India, where they found employment as soldiers, mercenaries, and administrators. While stereotypical associations of Africans with music and dance persist in this Deccani album page, the figure is well dressed and less caricatured than the painting from 100 years earlier of the dancing Zangi in the Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot).
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2013.289.a/2013.289.a_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2013.289.a/2013.289.a_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2013.289.a/2013.289.a_full.tif