in opaque colours and gold on paper, the kneeling figure of the prince clasps the hands of the seated sage who rests upon a tiger skin draped over a rocky outcrop beneath a fruiting tree, attendants hold the prince's bow and quiver, whilst others restrain horses and dogs by a stream, ruled margins in gold, blue and white, mounted on card, verso with an applied circular label, text 16.6 x 9.9cm., folio 22.1 x 13.6cm.

Provenance:

A private UK collection since the early 2000s, purchased from the London trade.

Christies, 21st November, 1986, lot 135, illustrated p.91.

The depiction of a worldly ruler seeking guidance from the spiritual guide, whether a sufi or saddhu, became a familiar trope in Mughal painting. The prince has abandoned his earthly trappings, the horses, attendants and trappings of the hunt, to kneel bare foot before the wise figure beneath the tree. The bare chested sage has the emblems denoting his status, such as the tiger skin and the simple pouch for his meagre possessions which hangs from a branch above his head.

The setting of the scene owes something to the Persian tradition tradition which, at this date, still appears in a less diffused manner in Mughal court art as a result of the presence of Persian artists in the Mughal royal atelier.

The subject of a prince seeking the advice of a wise or holy man recurs frequently in Mughal painting of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It probably originating in the reign of Akbar who was, perhaps, more than any other Mughal Shah, concerned with absorbing diverse spiritual advice. The artistic intention is both to indicate the contrast between worldy and spritual matters but also to indicate that the wise ruler takes account of both. As stated elsewhere, the coomposition intends to show the ‘juxtaposition and distant affinity of temporal and spiritual authority’ (A. Welch and S.C. Welch, The Arts of the Islamic Book, The Collection of Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, New York, 1982, p.160).

As with this example, the contrast between these aspects is emphasised by depicting the prince in the midst of a hunt. A comparable composition occurs on a folio from the De Luynes album sold at Christies, 25th April 2024, lot 89, but here the two activities, hunting and seeking advice, are shown in separate paintings on recto and verso. The fruiting tree is very similar to one depicted in a contemporary painting from the first Imperial copy of the Baburnama (Topsfield 2013, pp.34-35). This image also features a ascetic by a similar fruiting tree. The tree has been identified as a lote-fruit or ber tree (Zizyphus jujuba). The brush work that is used in this painting has a comparably confident and 'spontaneous' manner, typical for this Baburnama, and similar to the one adopted for this our painting.