Muslim Nobleman
On loan to The Met
This work of art is currently on loan to the museum.The imperial Mughal vogue for naturalistic profile portraits was widely emulated in the Hindu courts, where many rulers willingly followed metropolitan fashions. This bearded man of rank, likely a Muslim serving at a Rajput court, displays in his attire and demeanor two features that would have defined him as a man of character. He holds in his raised hand a rosebud to savor its fragrance, an iconographic representation of a man of refined sensibilities, and wears an archer’s ring of green jadeite on his thumb in the Mughal manner, signaling that he is also a man of action. This message is strengthened by the green turban with a dark plumage ornament (sarpech), appropriate to a hunting expedition. The treatment suggests that this was a study from life, even if we can sense the painter’s underlying urge to idealize his subject.
Artwork Details
- Title: Muslim Nobleman
- Date: early 18th century
- Culture: India, Rajasthan, Kishangarh
- Medium: Opaque watercolor with gold on paper
- Dimensions: Image: 11 13/16 × 9 13/16 in. (30 × 25 cm)
Framed: 19 × 16 3/8 × 3/4 in. (48.3 × 41.6 × 1.9 cm) - Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: The Howard Hodgkin Collection, on loan from the Howard Hodgkin Indian Collection Trust
- Object Number: L.2022.30.17
- Rights and Reproduction: Photo © Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art