The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 31, 2023

A Mughal courtier

c. 1575; border added probably 1700s

Mughal India, court of Akbar

(reigned 1556–1605)

Gum tempera and gold on paper, mounted with gold-sprinkled borders

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 2013.294

Location

not on view

Description

This sensitive portrait is among the earliest surviving individual portraits from the Mughal atelier. He remains unidentified by inscription, since such portraits were made for the emperor Akbar who was unable to read. Realism in portraiture developed under Akbar as a means of keeping records of gifts and promotions without written notations. The figure conspicuously grasps the maroon and gold scarf in his left hand, which suggests that it may have been the gift from the emperor that would have occasioned the portrait. The array of blades he carries indicates that he was conscripted into military service at the Mughal court.

Inscriptions

Inscription

Inscription in top margin, upside-down in nasta‘liq script, probably added c. 1700s: Sarkhod

Provenance
Hagop Kevorkian [1872–1962], New York, NY
December 6, 1967
(Sotheby’s, London, Highly Important Oriental Manuscripts and Miniatures: The Property of the Kevorkian Foundation, 6 December 1967, lot 114, sold to Ralph Benkaim)
1967–2013
Ralph Benkaim [1914–2001] and Catherine Glynn Benkaim [b. 1946], Beverly Hills, CA, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
2013–
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
Sotheby's, London. Catalogue of Highly Important Oriental Manuscripts and Miniatures The Property of the Kevorkian Foundation.6 December 1967. Lot 114
Welch, Stuart Cary, and Mark Zebrowski. A Flower from Every Meadow: Indian Paintings from American Collections. New York: Asia Society; distributed by New York Graphic Society, 1973. no. 56
Brand, Michael, and Glenn D. Lowry. Akbar's India: Art from the Mughal City of Victory. New York: Asia Society Galleries, 1985. cat. no. 53
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. cat. no. 6, p. 183
Exhibition history

A Flower From Every Meadow. Asia House Gallery, New York, NY; Center for Asian Art and Culture, San Francisco, CA; Albright-Know Gallery of Art, Buffalo, New York, NY (1973).

Akbar's India: Art from the Mughal City of Victory. Asia Society, New York, NY (October 10, 1985-January 5, 1986); Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, MA (January 24-March 16, 1986); Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX (April 19-June 15, 1986).

Martial Art of India (Indian Painting rotation). The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (February 11-August 21, 2022).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2013.294