Thank you for registering for our auction! You are required to provide: 1. Deposit; 保证金待商议； 2. Copy or images of ID card (front and back) or Passport 3. Images of Credit card (front and back).
ATTRIBUTED TO LA'L, NORTH INDIA, CIRCA 1600 Pencil, transparent and opaque pigments heightened with gold on paper, inscribed with the names of 'Akbar' and 'Abu'l-Fazl' in minute black nasta'liq script above the central figures, erroneously ascribed to 'Nadir al-Zaman' below, within narrow blue borders with gilt floral motifs and gold borders, later buff margins Painting 5 ? x 4 1/8in. (14 x 10.3cm.); folio 10 ? x 7 3/8in. (26 x 18.8cm.)
The inscriptions on this painting identify the central figures in discussion as Akbar and ‘Abul Fazl. The latter was the Mughal Emperor Akbar’s prime minister as well as a close friend, and is credited with writing the Akbarnama, a history of Akbar’s reign, in 1589. The painting has been attributed to La’l, an important artist of Akbar’s reign, who was active between 1570-1605. There are a few related nim qalam illustrations depicting princes engaged in literary and leisurely pursuits which are by La’l. Two Mughal illustrations by La’l in the nim-qalam style, dated circa 1590-1610, which are in the British Royal Collection, depict similar scenes of a young prince enjoying wine, music and poetry in a garden in the company of musicians and attendants (RCIN 1005039 and RCIN 1005047, Hannam, 2018, no.9, pp.72-73). Another comparable illustration mounted on an album page is in the David Collection in Copenhagen. That depicts an interior scene with a young prince studying books in his library surrounded by attentive librarians and attendants (inv.no.3/2012).
La’l worked on several illustrations from the dispersed Baburnama, the Victoria & Albert Museum Akbarnama, the Bankipur Timurnama, and the Keir Khamsa of Nizami to name a few. The facial features of the figures in the present lot can be compared to figures in the V&A Akbarnama illustrations worked on by La’l (Stronge, 2002, pl.23, 32, pp.38, 48-49). For a Baburnama illustration designed by La’l in the present sale, see lot 82.
The style of the dresses and turbans of the figures place this painting in the Akbari period. The arrangement of the figures, especially the seated musicians and the attendants standing on the left, the cypress tree in the background, and the pavilion on the right, are all features comparable with another Mughal illustrated folio depicting a prince seated on a terrace entertained by musicians, dated to circa 1600, which sold at auction (Sotheby’s, London, 3 October 2012, lot 106). For another slightly later but comparable painting depicting a Mughal prince seated in the company of some literary men listening to poetry and music, circa 1610, see Goswamy and Fischer, 1987, no.78, p.160.
