The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 25, 2024

Portrait of Asaf Khan (1569–1641), from the Late Shah Jahan Album

Portrait of Asaf Khan (1569–1641), from the Late Shah Jahan Album

c. 1653
(1627–58)
Gum tempera and gold on paper
Image: 19 x 11.9 cm (7 1/2 x 4 11/16 in.); Overall: 38 x 24.8 cm (14 15/16 x 9 3/4 in.); with mat: 49 x 36.3 cm (19 5/16 x 14 5/16 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1945.168
Location: not on view

Description

Asaf Khan, born in Iran, was a general and close advisor to Mughal emperors Jahangir (reigned 1605–27) and Shah Jahan (reigned 1627–58). He was also Jahangir’s brother-in-law and Shah Jahan’s father-in-law.

The figures in the borders show that Asaf Khan was both a scholar and a soldier. At the top, mullahs (learned Muslim clerics) with books gesture in discourse, while two soldiers converse at ease below. Three retainers stand at the side presenting a sword, a vase of narcissus, a bow, and arrows. He has strapped on a sheathed sword and tucked a stabbing dagger and book into his elegantly embroidered floral sash.
  • Demotte (?)
    ?–1945
    (Mrs. Adrienne Minassian [1913–1994], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1945–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Hollis, Howard. “Portrait of a Nobleman.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 33, no. 10, 1946, pp. 180–181, 185. Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 180–181, 185 www.jstor.org
    Leach, Linda York. Indian Miniature Paintings and Drawings. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1986. cat. no. 28ii
    Tōyō kaiga no seika: tokubetsuten: Kurīvurando Bijutsukan no korekushon kara [東洋絵画の精華: 特别展: クリーヴラント美術館のコレクションから= Highlights of Asian painting from the Cleveland Museum of Art]. Nara, Japan: Nara National Museum, 1998. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 24, cat. no. 3
    Mackie, Louise W. Symbols of Power: Luxury Textiles from Islamic Lands, 7th-21st Century. Cleveland; New Haven: Cleveland Museum of Art; Yale University Press, 2015. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 436, fig. 10.25
  • Martial Art of India (Indian Painting rotation). The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (February 11-August 21, 2022).
    Main Gallery Rotation (gallery 245). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (April 28-November 2, 2015).
    Indian Miniature Rotation (Gallery 115). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (February 4-August 5, 2003).
    Highlights of Asian Paintings from The Cleveland Museum of Art. Nara National Museum (organizer) (February 21-March 29, 1998); Suntory Museum of Art (April 28-June 21, 1998).
    Exhibition of the Month: Indian Miniatures. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 15-September 28, 1952).
  • {{cite web|title=Portrait of Asaf Khan (1569–1641), from the Late Shah Jahan Album|url=false|author=|year=c. 1653|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1945.168