id:			170852
accession number:	2013.335
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/2013.335
updated:		2024-04-17 11:08:32.892000

A prince conversing with a woman while taking refreshments on a terrace (recto); Calligraphy (verso), c. 1710–20. Mughal India. Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper; page: 30.5 x 24.1 cm (12 x 9 1/2 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 2013.335

title:				A prince conversing with a woman while taking refreshments on a terrace (recto); Calligraphy (verso)
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			c. 1710–20
creation date earliest:		1705
creation date latest:		1725
current location:		242B Indian Painting
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:	Mughal India
technique:	Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
department:	Indian and Southeast Asian Art
collection:	Indian Art - Mughal
type:		Painting
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

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measurements: Page: 30.5 x 24.1 cm (12 x 9 1/2 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

	inscription:	Verso: From a Bustan (Fragrant Herb Garden) of Sa‘di (Persian, 1210–1291).
Persian text in nasta‘liq script:

Why do the adherents of Idea to this not cleave—/
That only the Elect may go in water or in fire?/
As for the infant, uninformed of fire,/
Does not his mother guard him lovingly?/
Those, then, who’re drowned in ecstasy/
By night and day are in the very care of Truth:/
He guards the Friend against the fire’s heat/
As Moses’s crib against the whirlpools of the Nile;/
When an infant’s in a swimmer’s arms/
He knows no fear, broad though the Tigris be;/
But how shall you step on the ocean’s face/
As do real men, when even on dry land your skirt is wet?/

The way of the intellect is all twists and turns,/
But the concern of the gnostics is for God alone!/
This can be said to those who recognize realities,/ 
Though adherents of analogy may carp thereat and say:/
“What, then, is heaven, and what earth besides?/
Who are the sons of Adam, and the beasts both wild and tame?”/
A proper thing you’ve asked, O prudent one!/
I’ll tell you—if you find the answer proper:/
The plain and the ocean, the mountain and the sky,/
Pari and manchild, demon and angel—/
All, whatsoever they be, are less than That/
By virtue of Whose being they utter being’s name!/
Monstrous before you, with its waves, lies the ocean;/
High is the sun, all ablaze at the zenith;
(after Wickens 1974, 113)
	translation:	
	remark:		

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

* {'description': '<em>Art and Stories from Mughal India</em>. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (July 31-October 23, 2016). (2013.335.a only)', 'opening_date': '2016-07-31T00:00:00'}

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PROVENANCE

	Sir Charles Forbes, 7th Baronet [1773–1849], Bengal, London, and Scotland, by descent to his great-grandson, Colonel Sir John Forbes
	date: ?–1849
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	Colonel Sir John Stewart Forbes [1901–1984], Baronet, DSO, DL, Allargue House, Strathdon, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, UK, consigned to Sotheby's London for sale
	date: ?–1962
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	(Sotheby’s, London, Western and Oriental Manuscripts and Miniatures, 10 December 1962, lot 9, sold to Ralph Benkaim)
	date: 10 December 1962
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	Ralph Benkaim [1914-–2001] and Catherine Glynn Benkaim [b. 1946], Beverly Hills, CA, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
	date: 1962–2013
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
	date: 2013–
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact:


digital description:


wall description:

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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	Mace, Sonya Rhie, Mohsen Ashtiany, Catherine Glynn, Pedro Moura Carvalho, Marcus Fraser, and Ruby Lal. <em>Mughal Paintings: Art and Stories: the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>.  London: D Giles Limited, 2016.
	page number: 	Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 74, p. 298
	url:		

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2013.335/2013.335_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2013.335/2013.335_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2013.335/2013.335_full.tif