THE MUGHAL EMPEROR MUHAMMAD SHAH (R. 1719 - 1748) HOLDING A SARPECH
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE AMERICAN COLLECTION
Possibly Jaipur or Mewar, Rajasthan, North-Western India, late 18th - 19th century

Opaque pigments and ink heightened with gold on wove paper, the vertical-format composition portraying the 13th Mughal Emperor, Muhammad Shah (r. 1719 - 1748), standing in a green field, depicted with a large radiant golden halo and ornate turban with a black heron aigrette, holding an encrusted golden sarpech (turban ornament) in his right hand, in the left hand a long tulwar sword, set within later-added red borders, the reverse with a rectangular black ink ownership seal in Arabic, 27cm x 17cm.

Provenance: previously part of the private collection of Monroe Wheeler, Rosemont, New Jersey.