Dancers and musicians performing for a princess on a terrace before a river, signed by Muhammad Afzal, Oudh, circa 1770

gouache with gold on paper, borders of gold-flecked cream paper, signed 'amal-i Muhammad Afzal' in loop of huqqah pipe at centre left, inscribed in a gold cartouche in upper border 'tasvir majlis raqs' ('a picture of a dance gathering'), reverse with illuminated calligraphy by Hafiz Nurallah

Formerly in the collection of Edwin Binney, 3rd.

Indian Miniature Painting from the Collection of Edwin Binney, 3rd, Portland Art Museum, 1974.

E. Binney, Indian Miniature Painting from the Collection of Edwin Binney, 3rd, Portland, 1973, no.85, pp.108-9.
T. Falk and M. Archer, Indian Miniatures in the India Office Library, London, 1981, p.112, no.179 note (referenced).

The figures in good condition, colours bright, some scattered flaking with associated overpainting on red ceiling and on blue water and on ground on which dancers perform, vertical left-edge with small tear, gold-flecked border with some discoloration, reverse calligraphy rubbed throughout, the borders with tears and mounted on album page, some discoloration, as viewed.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This large album folio is from an interesting album possibly assembled by the Mughal nobleman Najm al-Din Ali Khan or by Nawab Shuja' al-Daula of Oudh (see Sotheby's London, 14 December 1987, lots 25-40; Leach 1995, vol.II, pp.654-6 respectively). Some folios were acquired by Sir Elijah Impey, the first Chief Justice of Bengal from 1774-83 and patron, with his wife Lady Impey, of the well-known album of natural history illustrations (see Leach 1995, vol.II, pp.654-6, and lot 20 and 21 in this sale). The wide album borders flecked with gold feature distinctive gold cartouches with inscriptions identifying the subjects. The Persian hand of these inscriptions seems to be the same throughout the group and the inscriptions always begin 'tasvir-e...'. Amongst the various subjects depicted (mullahs, princes, hunting scenes, maidens), several feature idealised images of young women in various settings identified as 'tasvir-e hosn...' ('image of a beauty...') (Leach 1995, vol.II, pp.654-6). A number of the album folios bear the seal impression of Sir Elijah Impey, himself a keen collector of manuscripts and miniatures, leading to the suggestion that part of the album was acquired by him while in Bengal in the 1770s and 1780s. Impey's album was auctioned after his death at the sale of his library held by Phillips of New Bond Street, London, on 21 May 1810, but it is probable that other folios from the same original group remained outside Impey's collection, as a number were acquired in India in the late nineteenth century by Admiral Edmund Fremantle (1836-1939), who was stationed in India in the 1880s. Folios with this provenance are in the Victoria and Albert Museum (IS-156-1952) and the Chester Beatty Library (Leach 1995, vol.II, pp.654-664, nos.6.232-6.241; see also S. Markel and T.B. Gude et al, India's Fabled City: The Art of Courtly Lucknow, Los Angeles, 2010, p.79, no.10), while others from the wider group are in the Bodleian Library, Oxford (Douce Or. A3) and the Museum of Canberra. Another group of sixteen folios with the same borders was formerly in the collection of Hon. Stephen Tennant, reputedly acquired by him on the advice of his friend E. M. Forster (see Sotheby's London, 14 December 1987, lots 25-40). Further paintings from the same original group were in the Pozzi collection, while others have appeared at auction in these rooms 1 June 1987, lot 16, 20 April 2016, lot 48, at Christie's London, 25 April 2013, lot 175, and Hotel Drouot, Paris, 16 December 1988, lots 19-20. Thus it cannot be assumed that all were part of Sir Elijah Impey's collection and that provenance must depend on the presence of his seal impression. In the present case there is no seal of Sir Elijah Impey, indicating that this folio was from one of the other groups of this dispersed album.

The artist Muhammad Afzal was probably active at the Mughal court of Muhammad Shah in Delhi in the 1740s and is likely to have moved to Lucknow in the second half of the century, perhaps as late as the 1770s (see Falk and Archer 1981, pp,105, 136, nos.179, 281, see also McInerney 2002, p.20). In the present work, the female figures and the terrace setting accord with his earlier works (the females are very close in style to his portrait of a lady in the India Office Library (Johnson Album 11, no.2, Falk and Archer 1981, no.179), but the style of the landscape background indicates a date later in the century, pointing to this work being from his Lucknow phase. This dating would also accord with the fact that a group of folios from the same album was acquired by Sir Elijah Impey, who was collecting between 1774 and 1783.

Hafiz Nurullah, who has signed the calligraphy on the reverse, must be the calligrapher who is recorded as having served at the court of Asaf al-Dawla of Oudh (Awadh) (1775-97) in Lucknow and Ghulam Muhammad Dihlavi, who met him, praised him in his tadhkira as a person and his nasta’liq hand in both small and large in ‘Abd al-Rashid Daylami’s style (M. Hidayat Husain (Ed.), The tadhkira-i-khushnavisan of Mawlana Ghulam Muhammad Dihlavi, Calcutta, 1910, pp.64-65). Bayani records five works by him, two dated 1153 AH/1740-41 AD and 1154 AH/1741-42 AD (Mehdi Bayani, ahval va athar-e khosh-nevisan, vol.3, Tehran, 1348, p.949). Further examples of his hand were mounted on Lucknow albums of the 1770s and 1780s, including other folios from the present album (see Sotheby's, London, 14 December 1987, lots 26, 27, 28, 31, 35, 40) and folios from the Polier Album (see Sotheby's London, 8 October 2014, lots 270-272).