AlbumsIndian18th century

Album of illustrations of Hamzanama (The Adventures of Amir Hamza)

18th century

Description

The album consists of four folios in accordion style, illustrating the stories of the Hamzanama. There are six paintings depicting five composite animals and seven winged female figures, and each painting has a caption in Persian. Each painting is highlighted with gold, red and blue. Each painting is remounted within two borders decorated with flowers on three sides. The style of the drawings and the decoration in the frames are consistent with Kashmiri manuscripts of the 18th century. The album has a red leather binding. Composite animals have a long history in the visual tradition of India and might have originated from Central Asia and Iran. In India, they typically appear as camels and horses, and most frequently as elephants, with their bodies inhibited by other animals. With some described as “magical” in the captions, the beasts in this album take on even more unusual, hybrid forms and some have multiple heads. But beyond the inscribed titles, little is known about these magical creatures and their meaning remains enigmatic.

Classification

Albums

Medium

Ink, color, and gold on paper; leather binding

Culture

Indian

Century

18th century

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Department

Department of Islamic & Later Indian Art

Dimensions

27 x 18 cm (10 5/8 x 7 1/16 in.)

Provenance

Ezzat-Malek Soudavar, Geneva, Switzerland (by 2014), by descent; to her son Abolala Soudavar, Houston, Texas (2014), loan; to Harvard Art Museums, 2015. Note: Ezzat-Malek Soudavar (1913-2014) formed this collection over a period of sixty years. She purchased the works of art on the international art market.