A DOUBLE-SIDED ILLUSTRATED ALBUM PAGE WITH A PAINTING OF A BEAUTY AND A GREAT INDIAN BUSTARD MUG...

A DOUBLE-SIDED ILLUSTRATED ALBUM PAGE WITH A PAINTING OF A BEAUTY AND A GREAT INDIAN BUSTARD MUGHAL, MID-17TH CENTURY Opaque watercolor and gold on paper; the folio's verso (bird) inscribed in nagari script: shutara murga Image: 5 1/2 x 3 1/2 in. (14.0 x 8.9 cm), the woman; Image: 6 7/8 x 4 3/4 in. (17.5 x 12.1 cm), the bird; Folio: 17 x 11 1/8 in. (43.2 x 28.3 cm) Footnotes: The delicate hand responsible for painting the ideal beauty in the form of a princess is likely to have been connected to the atelier responsible for several portraits in the Dara Shikoh Album, now in the British Library (see Falk and Archer Indian Miniatures, 1990, pp. 382-388, nos. 68f.13v-68f.30). These pages are also paired with studies of birds in simple landscapes (pp. 381-8, nos. 68f.8, 68f.9v, 69f.31v and 68f.32). One side of the present album page depicts the beauty wearing an orange and gold lengha and diaphanous purple odhni bordered in gold with matching slippers. She is adorned with necklaces, armlets, and earrings, and gestures towards a purple blossom held before. She stands on a grassy field with pistachio green background and high purple and white clouds against a blue sky. The verso depicts a great Indian bustard finely rendered with brown, black, and white feathers. Having an ostrich-like appearance, the great Indian bustard is among the heaviest flying birds. The Mughal emperor Babur once noted, '[while] the flesh of the leg of some fowls, and of the breast of others is excellent; the flesh of every part of the Kharchal is delicious' (Beveridge, (1922). The Babur-nama in English. vol. II, 1922, p. 498). The great Indian bustard was, however, a cryptic and wary bird making it a challenge for sportsmen, who had to stalk carefully to get within range. British soldiers in India considered it a delicacy and the species was among the top gamebirds. The bird is now critically endangered primarily due to hunting and habitat loss. Provenance Sotheby's, New York, 16 March 1988, lot 352 Private Collection, Japan Private Japanese Collection, acquired from the above, 2007-08 Christie's, New York, 19 Mar 2013, lot 295 Private Collection, US For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing