A HAWKING SCENE WITH A NAWAB ON A WHITE STEED
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE AMERICAN COLLECTION
Hyderabad, Deccan, Central India, ca. 1820 - 1840

Opaque pigments and black ink heightened with gold on paper, the large horizontal composition depicting a hawking scene featuring two rows of courtly attendants and a nawab on horseback against a light blue ground, five characters including the nobleman holding a hawk in their right hand, all clad in white except for the fan bearer behind the nawab, two hunting dogs following behind the white steed, the scene set within black and white rules, and yellow and bright red borders, at the top and on the back a line of free-flowing black ink naskh script reading the name of the nawab and his honorific titles, 31cm x 39.5cm.

Provenance: Private German Collection.

Inscription (front): The portrait of Mir Shamshir of the Sultanate of India and Herat, Amir of Deccan and Hindus of Gujarat, Nawan Mustatab

Inscription (reverse): Nawab Vizier Sardar Afghan Mir Shamshir Hakim Subhan Sunah Beg, Minister of the Sultanate of Deccan and Gujarat