A GURU RECEIVES A STRINGED INSTRUMENT

Private Dutch collection
Acquired circa 1989

Some minor stains to buff ground. With small pinhole to paper in upper left quadrant adjacent to leafy sprays. Otherwise in very good condition. Possibly slightly trimmed. Verso: Slight stains with hinge remnants. Ink sketches of leafy sprigs. Old inscriptions in pencil and an old label in black ink written in Dutch. Conservation framed.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

A very fine depiction of a cloaked holy man, seated on a tigerskin rug leaning on his crook.  He gazes at a small stringed instrument presented by a devotee, who holds it up delicately with one hand, lightly plucking at the strings.  Seated in a circle of yogis, playing drum and cymbals - with another seated with legs bound.  Beneath stylized trees.

Our painting has Deccani characteristics, probably painted at or near Hyderabad, as noted in the highly stylized trees, nim qalam (half-painted) manner as well as the extremely fine quality of the faces of the yogis. 

Possibly attributable to the artist Masud - a Mughal artist active in the mid-Eighteenth Century.  This attribution is based upon another colored drawing of ascetics almost certainly by the same hand in the Victoria and Albert Museum London which is attributed there to Masud (V&A IM.289-1913).

An old label, affixed to the verso of the painting, is inscribed in Dutch in an early Nineteenth Century hand.