Lot 151
A MANUSCRIPT ILLUSTRATION DEPICTING A MYSTICAL FLAME IN THE ALCOVE OF A MOSQUE, OBSERVED BY NOBLE ONLOOKERS
INDIA, KASHMIR, 19TH CENTURY
Auction: 09 December 2026 from 14:00 GMT
Description
gouache on paper, heightened by gold, depicting a large golden mystical flame in front of a temple building, six noblemen with turbans and robes sit on a red carpet in front of the flame whilst four nobleman stand in the foreground looking on, gold border with black margin lines, Persian text verso from another manuscript, pasted to the reverse of the painting, nasta'liq script grouped in four columns in black ink, heading written in two lines of naskhi script in red ink set within the panel, margin lines in blue, black and gold, mounted, glazed and framed
Dimensions
Folio 23.5cm x 14.3cm, image 16.5cm x 10.8cm
Provenance
The collection of David Howard Maude-Roxby-Montalto, 14th Duke of Fragnito (b. 1934).
Footnote
The depiction of the enigmatic flame motif closely parallels those found on a group of thirteen folios from another Kashmiri manuscript containing an unidentified text concerning the life of the Prophet Muhammad, sold at Bonhams, Islamic and Indian Art, 7 October 2014, lot 4.
The verso text derives from a manuscript of Nizami’s Layla and Majnun, part of the Khamsa cycle. A red rubric introduces the episode Majnun’s Father Takes Him to the Ka'ba, following a passage that describes Majnun’s sorrowful weeping for Layla.