PORTRAIT OF ABDULLAH QUTB SHAH OF GOLCONDA, DECCAN, GOLCONDA, MID 17TH CENTURY

Opaque watercolour on cloth, mounted on paper, with borders of gold-flecked cream paper, inscriptions of identification in Persian and Devanagari in lower border; reverse with a page of calligraphy consisting of four lines of nasta'liq script written in black ink on brown paper by Muhammad Hayat

Zebrowski 1983, no.111, p.142

Painting trimmed to edge of image and laid down on paper. Painted surface creased, faded and flaked, especially along crease lines. Borders and calligraphy on reverse in fair condition. As viewed.
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This is a striking image of Sultan Abdullah Qutb Shah of Golconda. Along the bottom edge of the border there is an inscription in Persian and Devanagari identifying the sitter as Ali Adil Shah of Bijapur (r.1656-72). When Mark Zebrowski published the portrait in 1983 he repeated this identification and suggested that the portrait was painted by the "Bombay" painter, on the basis of  comparisons with other portraits (see Zebrowski 1983, pp.140,143). However, the facial features, moustache and turban are quite unlike other images of Ali Adil Shah, but bear an extremely close resemblance to Abdullah Qutb Shah of Golconda (r.1626-72), especially in three portraits illustrated in Zebrowski 1983, nos.147-9, pp.183-4. It seems likely therefore that the inscriptions in the lower border are a mis-identification by a later owner, perhaps when the portrait was mounted into the album page. Zebrowski also notes that the album page is of Kishangarhi origin (ibid fig. 111, caption).