The House of Bijapur: Album leaf, ca. 1680
Kamal Muhammad; Chand Muhammad
Attributed to India, Deccan, Bijapur
Ink, opaque colors, gold, and silver on paper; 16 1/4 x 12 13/16 in. (41.3 x 30.9 cm)
Purchase, Gifts in memory of Richard Ettinghausen; Schimmel Foundation Inc., Ehsan Yarshater, Karekin Beshir Ltd., Margaret Mushekian, Mr. and Mrs. Edward Ablat and Mr. and Mrs. Jerome A. Straka Gifts; The Friends of the Islamic Department Fund; Gifts of Mrs. A. Lincoln Scott and George Blumenthal, Bequests of Florence L. Goldmark, Charles R. Gerth and Millie Bruhl Frederick, and funds from various donors, by exchange; Louis E. and Theresa S. Seley Purchase Fund for Islamic Art and Rogers Fund, 1982 (1982.213)
Kamal Muhammad; Chand Muhammad
Attributed to India, Deccan, Bijapur
Ink, opaque colors, gold, and silver on paper; 16 1/4 x 12 13/16 in. (41.3 x 30.9 cm)
Purchase, Gifts in memory of Richard Ettinghausen; Schimmel Foundation Inc., Ehsan Yarshater, Karekin Beshir Ltd., Margaret Mushekian, Mr. and Mrs. Edward Ablat and Mr. and Mrs. Jerome A. Straka Gifts; The Friends of the Islamic Department Fund; Gifts of Mrs. A. Lincoln Scott and George Blumenthal, Bequests of Florence L. Goldmark, Charles R. Gerth and Millie Bruhl Frederick, and funds from various donors, by exchange; Louis E. and Theresa S. Seley Purchase Fund for Islamic Art and Rogers Fund, 1982 (1982.213)
The nine cAdil Shahi rulers of Bijapur are assembled in a brilliant display of dynastic history. Dynastic memories linger, too, in the depiction of distant seas, for in earlier days the kingdom extended to the Arabian Sea and included Goa. The picture was painted for the young man at the right, Sultan Sikandar, the last ruler of Bijapur, who inherited the throne at the age of four in 1672. Bijapuri pictures are typically lyrical, poetic, even otherworldly, but this relatively late work reflects the influence of Mughal naturalism in the sensitive portraits.
