Seated Youth with a Cup

Aspects of the pose and turban of this seated figure recall the ‘Man in a Furlined Coat’ (55.121.39) signed by Riza and datable to around 1600. The shape of this figure’s voluminous turban bound by a gold cloth resembles that of Riza’s figure. A black feather is stuck in the folds of both men’s turbans. Corkscrew curls escape from under each man’s turban, but Riza’s brushwork is infinitely finer. The angle of the figures’ heads and the position of their knees is the same in both pictures, but the treatment of the hands in the ‘Seated Youth with a Cup’ is awkward and possibly overpainted. At the lower right the faint outline of an effaced seal is visible. The painting has been mounted on an album page with illuminated corner pieces at the upper right and lower left. The outer border is decorated with lotus blossom scrolls and the proportions of the ornament indicate that this would have been a verso side.