The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 25, 2024

Hunting with Falcons in a Landscape (recto)

Hunting with Falcons in a Landscape (recto)

c. 1558–60; borders added probably 1700s

attributed to Abd al-Samad

(Persian, c. 1510–1600)
India, Mughal, 16th century
Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
Page: 35.7 x 24.3 cm (14 1/16 x 9 9/16 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 2013.292.a
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

The hunter’s glove is on the ground, as he pulls his falcon off the duck.

Description

The Mughals hunted on horseback with falcons. The hunting party would ride out into the wild and flush the prey. Then, its hood removed, the falcon would chase the prey and bring it down. From childhood Akbar loved hunting, and this painting may be a rare depiction of Akbar as a youth at the lower left, with the black feather in his white turban. The falcon that has caught a duck has been hooded and is being passed between the young man and his bearded companion. This important work was painted by one of the Persian artists Akbar’s father brought to India from Iran. The inscription at the upper right gives the name of one of the other Persian artists, but it is probably an erroneous later addition.
  • ?-1929
    E. E. [Edward Earle] Meugens [1875–1929], Calcutta and England, by descent to J. R. Meugens
    1929-1969
    J. R. Meugens
    1 July 1969
    (Sotheby’s, London, Important Oriental Manuscripts and Miniatures, 1 July 1969, lot 80, sold to Ralph Benkaim)
    1969-2013
    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
  • Royal Academy of Arts (Great Britain), and Arnold Talbot Wilson. Persian art: an illustrated souvenir of the exhibition of Persian art at Burlington house, London, 1931. [London]: Printed for the Executive Committee of the exhibition by Hudson & Kearns Ltd, 1931. Mentioned: cat. no. 631
    Wilson, Arnold Talbot. Catalogue of the International Exhibition of Persian Art; Partrons: His Majesty the King, His Majesty Rizā Shāh Pahlavi. 7th January to 28th February, 1931, Royal Academy of Arts, London. London: Office of the Exhibition [Printed by Gee & Co.], 1931. Mentioned: p. 250, no. 631
    Wilson, Arnold Talbot. Catalogue of the International Exhibition of Persian Art; Partrons: His Majesty the King, His Majesty Rizā Shāh Pahlavi. 7th January to 28th February, 1931, Royal Academy of Arts, London. London: Office of the Exhibition [Printed by Gee & Co.], 1931. Mentioned: p. 250, no. 631
    Welch, Stuart Cary, and Mark Zebrowski. A Flower from Every Meadow: Indian Paintings from American Collections. New York: Asia Society; distributed by New York Graphic Society, 1973. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 57, pp. 97-98
    Brand, Michael, and Glenn D. Lowry. Akbar's India: Art from the Mughal City of Victory. New York: Asia Society Galleries, 1985. Mentioned: cat. no. 69, p. 153; Reproduced: p. 105
    Datta, Rathin. The Legacy Continues... A history of Price Waterhouse, Lovelock & Lewes and PricewaterhouseCoopers Pvt. Ltd. in India. Kolkata, India: Nandini Chatterjee of PricewaterhouseCoopers Pvt. Ltd, [no pub. date]. Mentioned: p. 11 www.pwc.in
    Beach, Milo Cleveland, Eberhard Fischer, B. N. Goswamy, and Jorrit Britschgi. Masters of Indian Painting. Zurich, Switzerland: Artibus Asiae Publishers, 2011. Reproduced: p. 109, fig. 11
    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. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 3, pp. 158, 160
  • Art and Stories from Mughal India. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 31-October 23, 2016).
    Masters of Indian Painting. Museum Rietberg, Zürich, Switzerland (organizer) (April 30-August 21, 2011); The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (September 26, 2011-January 18, 2012).
    Akbar's India: Art from the Mughal City of Victory. Asia Society, New York, NY (October 10, 1985-January 5, 1986); Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, MA (January 24-March 16, 1986); Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX (April 19-June 15, 1986).
    A Flower From Every Meadow. Asia House Gallery, New York, NY; Center for Asian Art and Culture, San Francisco, CA; Albright-Know Gallery of Art, Buffalo, New York, NY (1973).
    The International Exhibition of Persian Art. Burlington House, London, UK (January 7-March 7, 1931).
  • {{cite web|title=Hunting with Falcons in a Landscape (recto)|url=false|author=Abd al-Samad|year=c. 1558–60; borders added probably 1700s|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2013.292.a