recto: ca. 1615-20; verso: ca. 1530-50
India
Object qualities
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Objectbook / magazine / album: Album leaf
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Author of the objectManohar
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Type of arts & crafts
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MediumInk, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
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SizeH. 15 3/8 in. (39 cm) W. 10 1/4 in. (26 cm)
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Geography detailsAttributed to
India -
Country today
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Daterecto: ca. 1615-20; verso: ca. 1530-50
Source of information
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Type of sourceDatabase “Metropolitan Museum of Art”
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Fund that the source refers toMetropolitan Museum of Art
Description
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The squarish format of this painting of a black buck, attributed to the artist Manohar, required filling the extra space within the “window” of the border, adroitly accomplished with two leaves of poetry, possibly taken from a type of narrow oblong manuscript known as a safina. The lower page, signed by the Persian master Sultan ‘Ali Mashhadi in the triangular box at the right, contains verse by the great poet Jami. Manohar painted several versions of this subject for the emperor, who mentions his fondness for his favorite decoy black buck in his memoirs.