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MUGHAL, NORTH INDIA, CIRCA 1600-1610 Opaque pigments heightened with gold on paper, the emperor enthroned on a dais surrounded by his courtiers, mounted on an album page within gold rules, narrow floral margins and wide gold floral borders, inscribed in pencil on the reverse ‘Saksena. Akbar and his master mason.’ Painting 6 7/8 x 4 ?in. (17.5 x 11.5cm.); folio 13 ? x 9 ?in. (35 x 24cm.)
Akbar is seated on a resplendent golden throne on a raised dais in an open pillared sandstone pavilion surrounded by attendants, musicians and his courtiers. The figure standing before him, dressed in a green jama, carries a mallet tucked under his right arm and a chisel in his right hand. It has been suggested that this figure is Muhammad Qasim Khan, the master mason at Akbar’s court and his superintendent of buildings (Simon Ray, London, 2017, no.26, p.60). Qasim Khan held the joint titles of ‘Master of the Land and Sea Routes’ (mir-i barr u bahr) and ‘Master of Pyrotechnics' (mir-i atish) and was responsible for rebuilding the Agra fort during Akbar’s reign. It is quite likely that he would also have played a leading role in the building of Fatehpur Sikri which served as the capital of the Mughal Empire from 1571 to 1585 (Brand and Lowry, 1985, p.130, footnote 14). Akbar was known for his love for architecture. Antonio Monserrate, a Portuguese priest who was part of the first Jesuit mission to the court of Akbar and stayed at Fatehpur Sikri, noted that Akbar “is so devoted to building that he sometimes quarries stone himself, along with other workmen.” His involvement in the building process is illustrated in a miniature from the Akbarnama where he inspects the construction site at Fatehpur Sikri, and appears to be in discussion with the stone masons (Brand and Lowry, 1985, no.16, pp.40-41).
The theme of paying homage to the Emperor is paralleled extensively in Mughal painting. There is another illustration from the Akbarnama in the British Library, London which depicts Babur making Humayun his successor in 1530 (Or.12988, f.53; Losty and Roy, 2012, pp.59-50, fig.22). Ascribed to the artist La’l and dated circa 1602-03, the golden throne and the cobalt blue carpet with scrolling floral designs on the raised multi-tiered hexagonal dais in both paintings are very similar. Another comparable Mughal painting dated circa 1600 with a similar composition, depicting an enthroned Emperor Timur with an audience, sold in these Rooms, see 26 April 2012, lot 9.
The seal on the back of the painting belongs to Naqabat Khan, Najm al-Daula Zafar Jang Bahadur, an eighteenth century Mughal nobleman possibly from the Deccan.
