The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 25, 2024

Mahliqa, Daughter of the Emperor of China, Pointing at the Bird-Man Khwaja Mubarak: A Leaf from a Poetical Romance Relating to Shah Alam I (verso); Stenciled Scenes of Lion and Gazelle (verso)

Mahliqa, Daughter of the Emperor of China, Pointing at the Bird-Man Khwaja Mubarak: A Leaf from a Poetical Romance Relating to Shah Alam I (verso); Stenciled Scenes of Lion and Gazelle (verso)

c. 1710
Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
Page: 42.2 x 28.5 cm (16 5/8 x 11 1/4 in.)
Gift in honor of Madeline Neves Clapp; Gift of Mrs. Henry White Cannon by exchange; Bequest of Louise T. Cooper; Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund; From the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection 2013.336
Location: not on view

Description

A Persian inscription identifies the bird-man in the tree by name, but the text in which he appears remains unidentified. Also unknown is the Chinese princess Mahliqa (“she who has a face like the moon”), named in a Persian inscription written in front of her face. The artist depicts her in the dress of a Mughal court lady, except for the addition of an unusual headdress, and her handmaidens all look Indian. They gesture to the bird-man from the opposite side of a formal garden canal with fountains. A fortified city lies in the distance behind the walled garden, while creatures peer up at the fabulous composite figure from the water below.
  • March 17, 1988
    (Sotheby’s, New York, NY, Indian, Himalayan and South-East Asian Art and Indian Miniatures, 16–17 March 1988, lot 327, sold to Ralph and Catherine Benkaim)
    1988–2013
    Ralph Benkaim [1914–2001] and Catherine Glynn Benkaim [b. 1946], Beverly Hills, CA, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    2013–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Mace, Sonya Rhie, Mohsen Ashtiany, Catherine Glynn, Pedro Moura Carvalho, Marcus Fraser, and Ruby Lal. Mughal Paintings: Art and Stories: the Cleveland Museum of Art. London: D Giles Limited, 2016. cat. no. 72
    Gruber, Christiane J., ed. The Moon: A Voyage Through Time. Toronto, Ontario: Aga Khan Museum, 2019. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 59, pp. 198–199
  • The Moon: A Voyage Through Time. Aga Khan Museum, Toronto, Canada (organizer) (March 9-August 18, 2019). (2013.336.a only)
    Indian Gallery 242b Rotation – November 2016. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (November 7, 2016-April 10, 2017).
  • {{cite web|title=Mahliqa, Daughter of the Emperor of China, Pointing at the Bird-Man Khwaja Mubarak: A Leaf from a Poetical Romance Relating to Shah Alam I (verso); Stenciled Scenes of Lion and Gazelle (verso)|url=false|author=|year=c. 1710|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2013.336