id: 170877
accession number: 2013.347
share license status: CC0
url: https://clevelandart.org/art/2013.347
updated: 2024-04-17 11:08:32.910000
Posthumous portrait of the Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah (reigned 1719–1748) holding a falcon (recto); Calligraphy (verso), 1764. Muhammad Rizavi Hindi (Indian, active mid-1700s), Mahmud ibn Ishaq al-Shahabi (Persian, active mid- to late 1500s). Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper; painting only: 14.4 x 10.3 cm (5 11/16 x 4 1/16 in.); page: 28 x 23.8 cm (11 x 9 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 2013.347
title: Posthumous portrait of the Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah (reigned 1719–1748) holding a falcon (recto); Calligraphy (verso)
title in original language:
series:
series in original language:
creation date: 1764
creation date earliest: 1764
creation date latest: 1764
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, probably Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow
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
* Muhammad Rizavi Hindi (Indian, active mid-1700s) - artist
* Mahmud ibn Ishaq al-Shahabi (Persian, active mid- to late 1500s) - calligraphy by
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measurements: Painting only: 14.4 x 10.3 cm (5 11/16 x 4 1/16 in.); Page: 28 x 23.8 cm (11 x 9 3/8 in.)
state of the work:
edition of the work:
support materials:
inscriptions:
inscription: recto:
Persian inscription in top margin, in nasta‘liq script.
Picture of Muhammad Shah, the Great Warrior King
translation:
remark:
inscription: recto:
Persian inscription at bottom center of painting, in nasta‘liq script.
The work of the lowly Muhammad Riza, the Indian 178 [AH 1178]
translation:
remark:
inscription: verso:
In center, Persian exercises including on the second line down the “abjad” letters of numeration followed by calligrapher’s signature, in nasta‘liq script.
Done by the hand of the sinful slave Mahmud ibn Ishaq al-Shahabi, may God forgive his sins, in the year 982
translation:
remark:
inscription: verso:
Persian verses above from a ghazal of Hafiz (Persian, 1325–1389), in nasta‘liq script.
For some days now the Daughter of the Vine has been lost to us,/
Gone away to tend to her own affairs. Be alert and prepared (as a search party)./
Her dress is of rubies and she wears a tiara of delicate glass./
She carries off wisdom and knowledge. Till you feel safe and secure from her, remain alert!/
Whoever will bring her bitter presence to me, I will give him sweet confectionaries (halwa) in exchange,/
And should she be hiding in disguise in the underworld, go down (and seek her out)/
The daughter of the dark-colored (vine) is quick-tempered, petulant, rose-colored and drunk./
Should you find her, take her towards Hafiz’s house.
translation:
remark:
inscription: verso: Persian verses below, continued from above, in nasta‘liq script.
I saw her last night, sauntering and tipsy./
A cup in hand, she was heading towards a gathering of the drunk/
I was so vexed that my poetic powers/
Became distraught and fled away from me/
She was harboring thoughts of Khwarazm and the shores of the Oxus/
With a thousand complaints she was leaving the Kingdom of Solomon/
Gone would be the person who knew the very soul of poetry as no one else./
I was witnessing this and my soul was seeping out of my body/
I protested and much lamented but to no avail/
For this was a matter for the Sultan’s compassion to tend.
translation:
remark:
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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
title: Art and Stories from Mughal India
opening date: 2016-07-31T04:00:00
Art and Stories from Mughal India. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 31-October 23, 2016).
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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS
* {'description': 'Indian Miniature Paintings in West Coast Private Collections. Society for Asian Art, De Young Museum, San Francisco, CA (May 29-July 19, 1964).', 'opening_date': '1964-05-29T00:00:00'}
* {'description': "Life at Court: art for India's rulers, 16th-19th centuries. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA (November 20, 1985-February 9, 1986).", 'opening_date': '1985-11-20T00:00:00'}
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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: before 1811–1849
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 25, sold to Ralph Benkaim)
date: December 10, 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
Indian Miniature Paintings from West Coast Private Collections. [Exhibition] May 29-July 19, 1964. San Francisco, CA: M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, 1964.
page number: Mentioned: cat. no. 6
url:
Desai, Vishakha N., B. N. Goswamy, and Ainslie Thomas Embree. Life at Court: Art for India's Rulers, 16th-19th Centuries. Boston, MA: Museum of Fine Arts, 1985.
page number: Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 39, cat. no. 35
url:
Mace, Sonya Rhie, Mohsen Ashtiany, Catherine Glynn, Pedro Moura Carvalho, Marcus Fraser, and Ruby Lal. Mughal Paintings: Art and Stories: the Cleveland Museum of Art. London: D Giles Limited, 2016.
page number: Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 90, p. front and back covers, p. 251
url:
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IMAGES
web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2013.347/2013.347_web.jpg
print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2013.347/2013.347_print.jpg
full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2013.347/2013.347_full.tif