Posthumous portrait of the Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah (reigned 1719-1748) holding a falcon (recto); Calligraphy (verso)
1764
Muhammad Rizavi Hindi
Muhammad Rizavi Hindi (Indian, active mid-1700s)
Indian and Southeast Asian Art
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). Opaque watercolor, ink, and gold on paper (recto); ink and opaque watercolor with gold on paper (verso); 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 The archer’s thumb ring is for drawing the bowstring. Perhaps he was left-handed.
- Maker/Artist
- Muhammad Rizavi Hindi
- Classification
- Painting
- Formatted Medium
- opaque watercolor, ink, and gold on paper (recto); ink and opaque watercolor with gold on paper (verso)
- Dimensions
- 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.)
- Inscribed
- Inscription: recto: Persian inscription in top margin, in nasta‘liq script. Picture of Muhammad Shah, the Great Warrior King 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] 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 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. 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.
- Departments
- Indian and Southeast Asian Art
- Accession Number
- 2013.347
- Credit Line
- 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
- Exhibitions
- Art and Stories from Mughal India, <em>Indian Miniature Paintings in West Coast Private Collections</em>. Society for Asian Art, De Young Museum, San Francisco, CA (May 29-July 19, 1964)., <em>Life at Court: art for India's rulers, 16th-19th centuries.</em> Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA (November 20, 1985-February 9, 1986).
- Rights Statement
- CC0
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