A STANDING PORTRAIT OF A MUGHAL NOBLEMAN WITH A CRUTCH
Mughal Northern India, 18th century

Ink, opaque pigments, and white wash heightened with gold on wove paper, the verso of this Indian album folio portraying a standing Mughal nobleman holding a black crutch in his left hand, a red bird perched on his right hand, his forehead marked with the Shaiva tripundra, wearing a fine white muslin, diaphanous shawl on his chest and a yellow skirt, on the lower right corner a black ink Urdu inscription reading 'Bhota Swami', set within black rules, and concentric illuminated album page borders with stylised vegetal sprays and gold speckles, the recto with a Persian calligraphic panel featuring two bold nasta'liq black ink quatrains of poetry in the vein of Omar Khayyam about seizing the moment and enjoying life, inscribed 'al-...esi Ram, the year 1148 AH (1735 AD)' in the lower left corner, mounted, glazed and framed, 44.8cm x 35.3cm including the frame.