Johnson 66,2

An imaginary courtesan.

By Mihr Chand, Faizabad, c.1765-70.

Richard Johnson Collection. Purchased 1807.

Signed in lower left corner in Persian: ‘‘amal-i mihr chand’ (the work of Mihr Chand); inscribed on gold panel on border: ‘tasvir-i khiyal’ (a picture of an apparition); numbered 44 in Persian inventory note.

Gouache; inner blue border with gilt floral decoration, broad outer gilt-sprinkled border.

117 by 76 mm; page 424 by 347 mm.

Reverse: a quatrain of ‘nasta‘liq’ calligraphy by Hafiz Nur Allah, with illumination in colours and gold; 18th century.

Reproduced: Losty and Leach (1998), pl. 29.

Published: Bautze, Joachim K., 'Interaction of Cultures, Indian and Western Painting, 1780-1910', Art Services International, 1998, fig. 4, p. 23.

The courtesan with jewellery about her neck kneels on one knee, facing half-right and looking out of the picture. She is naked but holds a transparent drape above her head with her left arm, her long black hair falling loose; grey background. For miniatures of the same composition, ‘see’ Kheiri (1922), pl.40; Godard (1937), fig.66.

Note: Mihr Chand was one of the leading artists at the court of Shuja‘ al-Daula at Faizabad. He painted a number of portraits of his patron based on pictures by the English artist, Tilly Kettle (see M. Archer (1972 A); M. Archer (1979), 81), and signed numerous other pictures of diverse subjects, often describing himself as the son of Ganga Ram. The greatest array of his works is to be found in the Hamilton Albums originally assembled for the French-Swiss patron, Antoine Polier (1741-95), which are now divided between the State Museums of East and West Berlin. Another album containing his work was in the collection of Sir Thomas Phillipps (Ms. 6730). Mihr Chand was apparently the originator of the landscape style which was to become one of the hallmarks of Lucknow painting. He frequently uses a low, level horizon, with numerous little bushes receding towards a bluish distance, a device also adopted by Bahadur Singh (‘see’ J.1, 20). For other pictures by Mihr Chand, ‘see’ Kuhnel (1922), pls.133 and 134; Kuhnel (1922A); Sotheby, 27 November 1974, lots 723 and 757.