16 A RED SANDSTONE FLORAL PANEL MUGHAL <strong>INDIA</strong>, PERIOD <strong>OF</strong> AKBAR OR JAHANGIR, LATE 16TH/EARLY 17TH CENTURY Of rectangular form, deeply carved with elegant foral bouquets rising from a bulbous vase, fanked by lidded cups, beneath a squat lobed arch 25 x 33in. (63.5 x 83.8cm.) £6,000-8,000 $8,600-11,000 €7,500-10,000 PROVENANCE: Private collection, London, acquired before 1994 16 This panel would very probably have been produced for a Mughal building in the Agra or Fatehpur Sikri area. It is carved in a fne Mathura red sandstone, typical of the Mughal architectural decoration of the late Akbar period and the beginning of the reign of Jahangir (circa 1590-1615). Related foral panels decorate the wall of the east side of the Naqqar Khana, facing the Diwan-i Am at the Red Fort at Delhi. Although the fowers almost appear to be identifable, this realism is misleading as most Mughal artists abstracted their fower designs from basic types, such as lily, poppy or rose (Louise Nicholson, The Red Fort, Delhi, London, 1989). Panels showing vessels in trompe-l’oeil, such as the two small covered bowls in the present piece, are called Chini Khana. This type of architectural decoration was popular in Safavid Iran and Mughal India. Such panels can be seen at the Gate Pavilion of the Suraj Bhan ka Bagh and the Kanch Mahal at Sikandra . 17 A WHITE MARBLE JALI MUGHAL <strong>INDIA</strong>, PERIOD <strong>OF</strong> AKBAR OR JAHANGIR, LATE 16TH/EARLY 17TH CENTURY Of rectangular form, the elegant openwork geometric lattice composed of seven-pointed fower blooms arranged within large circular compositions, one long side with fange 24 x 15Ωin. ( 61 x 38cm.) £4,000-6,000 $5,700-8,500 €5,000-7,500 PROVENANCE: Private collection, London, acquired before 1994 This carved marble jali was very probably part of a balustrade, as indicated by the narrow fange along one of its sides. See for instance the balustrade of the Peerless Pool (Anup Talao) in the Daulat Khana at Fatehpur Sikri which shows closely related panels (Saiyid Athar Abbas Rizvi and Vincent John Adams Flynn, Fathpur-Sikri, Bombay, 1975, pl. 19). 17 18 No Lot 14 Opposite: Lot 25 (detail)
RAJPUT PAINTING THE SCHOOL <strong>OF</strong> PAINTING FROM RAJASTHAN ARE NOTED FOR THEIR BRIGHT COLOURS AND BOLD FORMS. RULERS PATRONISED LARGE AND SOPHISTICATED ATELIERS <strong>OF</strong> PAINTERS <strong>OF</strong>TEN TO PROJECT THEIR OWN IMAGES <strong>OF</strong> COURTLY OPULENCE. THESE PAINTINGS GIVE US AN INSIGHT INTO ROYAL LIFE- LOOK OUT FOR ROYAL HUNTS, PALACE ENTERTAINMENT AND EXTRAVAGANT RECEPTIONS.
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