Add Or 4317

Portrait of Shaikh Acche, who stands facing left, wearing an orange-brown jama against a plain green ground, holding up in his right hand an inscribed paper, and in his left an envelope. A knife-case is suspended from his girdle.

By the Mughal artist Anant, c.1600-05.

Inscribed on the paper in nasta‘liq: ‘‘amal-i Anant musavvir’ (work of the painter Anant); inscribed above: ‘in pust shabih-i shaikh Achah’ (portrait of Shaikh Acche).

Opaque water-colour, with inscription on beige paper above; inner border of pink with gold scrolling; on an album page with stencilled gold rosettes and cartouches, with a plain outer border with one gold ruling; size of miniature: 105 by 56 mm; size of original album page: 200 by 120 mm; size of page: 233 by 149 mm.

Purchased 1986.

Note: From the so-called Salim Album compiled for Prince Salim (the future Jahangir) when in rebellion based at Allahabad 1600-04, paintings from which have this same highly individual album page format. For a discussion of the album, see E. Wright, Muraqqa': Imperial Mughal Albums from the Chester Beatty Library Dublin, Art Services International. Alexandria VA, 2008, pp. 54-67, Albums456-58.

Shaikh Acche was the nephew of one of Jahangir’s favourite officers, Shaikh Hasan called Muqarrab Khan (see ‘Tuzuk’, trans. Rogers and Beveridge, I, pp.27-8), and grandson of Shaikh Bina; both his grandfather and uncle were physicians at Akbar’s court (see ‘‘A’in’ I, p.613, and ‘Ma‘athir al-‘Umara’ I, pp.616-7), but the name of his father does not seem to be recorded. He was serving under Shaja’at Khan against ‘Uthman Khan Lohani in Bengal when he was killed in 1612 (‘ibid.’, pp.209-10).