Emperor Shah Jahan with Prince Dara

This painting made using opaque watercolor and gold on paper, introduces us to its painter Nanha, the short-statured, lesser known painter who had one of the longest artistic careers in the history of Mughal painting. With a mature style, he excelled in real-life genre studies. His spontaneous originality enabled him to portray the psyche of a subject with uncanny skill. While he was not a major figure or Ustad in the Imperial kitabkhana of Akbar and Jahangir, the period he served (1590 and 1610), was crucial in the development of Mughal artistic traditions. This was when artists found a prominent position in the court and new styles and themes were incorporated. While Nanha is relatively obscure, he trained his nephew Bishandas, a leading light in Jehangir’s court. Nanha’s forte was portraiture and real-life genres has very skilfully rendered this painting of the then future emperor Shah Jahan admiring jewels with his favorite son. Holding a tray of emeralds and rubies, the father contemplates a ruby in his right hand, while the child grasps a peacock fan and a turban ornament. The sumptuousness of court life is conveyed in the detailed depiction of the jewels, the gilded furniture, the textiles, and, most spectacularly, the large bolster with its designs of figures and plants. Both are intimately seated upon a small golden throne and Shah Jahan’s eldest and favourite son is seen turbaned, daggered, and earringed.The boy resembles an imperial adult with his eye fixed on a dish of gems with childish covetousness. Nanha's portrait offers an appealing glimpse into imperial family life and, in its fineness of finish and naturalism, demonstrates his success in keeping abreast of developments in the imperial studios. The painting was sold by a Scottish collector to Sotheby’s in the 1920s and later found home in the collection of an American collector who sold it to the Met Museum, New York in 1955.

Museum Grade Canvas

Museum grade 370 GSM Canvas by Hahnemuhle

Matt-coated inkjet canvas | poly - cotton fabric | 370 gsm | Natural white | Zero artificial optical brighteners | Acid and lignin free | Museum quality for highest age resistance

Archival Paper

Premium Age Resistant Art Paper – 200 GSM

Matt finish premium | Rough Textured Surface | 200 GSM | 100% Cotton Fibers | Acid Free | High Age Resistance

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Stretched Canvas

Hand Stretched Canvas Wrap on Wood Frame

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Unframed Prints

Unframed Prints shipped in Spiral wound chipboard tubes

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