Asaf Khan holding Humayun’s turban, attributable to Balchand, India, Mughal, circa 1630

The Dukes of Newcastle, Clumber Park, Nottinghamshire, before 1928, sold The Clumber Library: Catalogue of the Magnificent Library, Property of the Late Seventh Duke of Newcastle removed from Clumber, Worksop and sold by the order of the RT. Hon. The Earl of Lincoln, Christie’s, London, 25 October 1937, lot 348

Jean Pozzi, Paris, sold Succession de M. Jean Pozzi: Collection de Miniatures Indiennes des XVII-XVIII et XIX Siecles, Hotel Drouot, Paris, 2 December 1970, lot 23

Armen Tokatlian, Paris

Christie's, New York, Maharajas and Mughal Magnificence, 19 June 2019, lot 338

Rois du Monde: Art et Pouvoir Royal a Travers les Chefs-d'Oevre de la Collection Al Thani, Château de Fontainebleau, 2018, exhibition catalogue, p.143, cat.31

Rois du Monde: Art et Pouvoir Royal a Travers les Chefs-d'Oevre de la Collection Al Thani, Château de Fontainebleau, 2018

This important portrait depicts the Mughal nobleman Mirza Abu’l Hasssan Asaf Khan (d.1641), the son of the Persian nobleman, Mirza Ghiyas Beg, who was given the title of I'timad al-Daulah. Asaf Khan was one of the most trusted and influential Mughal courtiers during the reigns of Jahangir and Shah Jahan. He had close ties with both Mughal Emperors as his sister, Nur Jahan, was married to Jahangir, and his daughter Mumtaz Mahal, to Shah Jahan. His final appointment at the Mughal court was in 1636 when the title of Khan-e Khanan was conferred on him.

Many Mughal paintings exist that show emperors holding or presenting royal insignia such as a crown, a globe representing the world, a jewelled turban ornament, or a sword. A folio from the St. Petersburg Album dated to circa 1628-29 includes a small portrait of Asaf Khan holding a parasol in his left hand and a gem-set crown in his right (S. Stronge, Made for Mughal Emperors, London, 2010, p.144, pl.108). A painting from the Late Shah Jahan Album, dated to circa 1650, depicts an enthroned Jahangir offering his brother-in-law, Asaf Khan, a gold tray with jewels and a turban ornament (Freer/ Sackler Gallery, Washington, S.1986.407). The painting serves as a posthumous confirmation of Asaf Khan’s status and importance at the Mughal court. However, the iconography of a Mughal nobleman holding Emperor Humayun’s distinctive turban is quite unique. It is likely that it symbolises Asaf Khan’s strong connection with Shah Jahan, under whose reign this painting would have been produced. The subject of the painting is closely comparable with another portrait drawing of similar date which depicts Emperor Akbar holding the royal turban of Humayun. The latter was sold in these rooms, 8 October 2014, lot 209. Both works were probably commissioned by Shah Jahan soon after he became emperor and are symbolic of the dynastic links between Shah Jahan, his grandfather Akbar, and his great-grandfather Humayun.

The present painting is attributable to the Mughal artist Balchand who was active at the imperial court between 1595 and circa 1650. He worked for Prince Salim in Allahabad from 1600-04 and then returned to the Mughal court at Agra in 1605. He is known for his skill at individual portraiture with a penchant for detail. For further discussion on Balchand’s style and for a list of paintings by the artist, or attributed to him, see J. Seyller, Balchand in Beach, Fischer, Goswamy (ed.), Masters of Indian Painting, 1100-1650, Vol.I, Zurich, 2011, p.337-356. Another known portrait of Asaf Khan from the Wantage Album, signed by Balchand and dated to circa 1620, is in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London (IM.120-1921).

A further portrait of Asaf Khan by the leading Mughal artist Bichitr, from the Minto Album, dated to the third regnal year of Shah Jahan (c.1630-31) is also in the Victoria and Albert Museum (IM.26-1925), illustrated in S. Stronge, Painting for the Mughal Emperor: The Art of the Book 1560-1660, London 2002, pl.118, p.156.

A coloured drawing of Jahangir conversing with Asaf Khan, dated to the late seventeenth/early eighteenth century, with borders from the Late Shah Jahan Album dated to circa 1650-58, formerly in the Maurice and Edmond de Rothschild and the Khosrovani-Diba collections, sold in these rooms, 19 October 2016, lot 9.