Akbar (1542-1605; reign 1556-1605), by commission [1]
?-?
Ownership information unknown
At least 1930-1931
Ajit Ghose (b. 1886), method of acquisition unknown [2]
From 1931
Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Ajit Ghose, through Ananda K. Coomaraswamy (1877-1947) [3]
Notes:
[1] See Milo Beach, “The Imperial Image: Paintings for the Mughal Court,” (Washington, DC and Ahmedabad, India: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and Mapin International Inc., 2012), cat. 11D, pp. 77, 79. The Mughal emperor Akbar (1542-1605; reign 1556-1605), commissioned several of his Islamic scholars to jointly write the history of the first thousand years of the Islamic world. The work was completed between 1593-1594.
[2] See offer letter from Ajit Ghose, Calcutta (Kolkata), India, to John. E Lodge, dated February 19, 1931, copy in object file. Ajit Ghose’s letter states, “Dear sir, [/] You will remember that about a year ago when I saw you with the miniatures of my Akbar manuscript, ‘Tarikh-i-Alfi’, and suggested that the leaves might be acquired for the Freer Gallery of Art, you said that you could only buy only a specimen leaf. At that time I did not entertain the idea of selling the leaves separately. I have, however, now changed my mind.”
See also untitled object list of “objects, owned by Mr. Ajit Ghose, Calcutta, India, on approval at the Freer Gallery [of Art],” undated (ca. 1931), copy in object file. The object was transferred from Dr. Ananda K. Coomaraswamy (1877-1947) in Boston, MA, on behalf of Ajit Ghose, to the Freer Gallery of Art for acquisition consideration on June 13, 1931. Object is described as “The Murder of Muwayyad (signed).”
Ajit Ghose was a lawyer and scholar in Calcutta (Kolkata), India. Ghose was a numismatist, who also collected Persian and Indian art, including paintings and antiquities.
[3] See object file for copy of “Ajit Ghose (c/o Dr. A. K. Coomaraswamy, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA),” invoice to Freer Gallery of Art, dated December 10, 1931, and marked approved on December 10, 1931. Object is described as “The Murder of Muwayyad (signed).”
Research updated October 27, 2023
Collection:
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Exhibition History:
Arts of the Indian Subcontinent and the Himalayas (October 16, 2004 to January 3, 2016)
The Imperial Image: Painting for the Mughal Court (September 25, 1981 to 30 March 1982)
Indian Art (January 1, 1963 to January 28, 1981)
Untitled Exhibition, Mughal Painting, 1947 (April 23 to September 30, 1947)
Untitled Exhibition, Mughal Painting (December 20, 1944 to April 23, 1947)
Untitled Exhibition, South Asian Paintings, Gallery 4 (May 5, 1933 to January 9, 1945)
