The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of February 8, 2025

Portrait of Asaf Khan (1569–1641), from the Late Shah Jahan Album
c. 1653
(1627–58)
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.orgLeach, Linda York. Indian Miniature Paintings and Drawings. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1986. cat. no. 28iiTōyō 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. 3Mackie, 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=08 February 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1945.168