A STANDING PORTRAIT OF NIZAM ALI KHAN SIDDIQI, ASAF JAH II (1734 - 1803)
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE AMERICAN COLLECTION
Rajasthan, North-Western India, ca. mid-19th century

Opaque pigments, ink, pencil and gold on paper, the large vertical-format portrait depicting Mir Nizam Ali Khan Siddiqi, also known as Asaf Jah II, the 5th Nizam of Hyderabad State ruling between 1762 and 1803, with a large golden flaming halo, wearing a fine diaphanous white muslin jama in line with Mughal fashion canons, embellished with several strands of pearl necklaces and encrusted golden bazubands (armbands) on his chest and arms, around his waist a belt with a tulwar sword and another in his left hand, in the right hand a small golden ring, the face showing signs of ageing but serene and realistically drawn, set within black and white rules, and yellow and bright red borders, pasted onto a grey cardboard mount, the portrait 35cm x 25.3cm, 37.5cm x 28cm including the mount.

Provenance: once part of a private American collection