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Travelers Gathered in the Night

Payag, Indian, b. 17th century

Creation date: ca. 1640

Creation place: India

Other Information

Type: Watercolor Painting

Medium and Support: Opaque watercolor and gold on paper, mounted as an album page

Credit Line: Edwin Binney 3rd Collection

Accession Number: 1990.350

State/Province: Delhi

Dimensions: 4 1/4 in. x 6 25/32 in. (10.8 cm x 17.2 cm)

Provenance

A. C. Ardeshir, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India ( - ca. 1945)

Sotheby's, London, England (March 26, 1973 - March 26, 1973)

Langford, London, England (March 26, 1973 - March 26, 1973)

Edwin Binney 3rd, San Diego, California (March 26, 1973 - August 27, 1990)

San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, California (August 27, 1990 - )

Label Copy

Myths, Monsters and Maharajas (Ellen Smart, 1992)
The horizon beyond the fortress pales with the approaching dawn, but the music and discussion carry on. This mysterious picture shows a gathering of eleven men outside a hut, lit by one candle and one oil lamp. From their clothing and possessions they can be recognized as Mughal soldiers and musicians, Muslim sages, and one Hindu sadhu or holy man. Books, an inkwell, a pair of spectacles, and scissors for tending the candle lie on the ground between the bearded man and the candle. Some of the men are to be seen in other paintings from this time, but all cannot be identified.
The darkness of the night and the intense concentration of the men contribute to the mystery. No doubt there were many such encounters in Mughal times, as there are today in village India. The inscription at the lower right identifying the artist as Bichitr is a later, spurious addition.

Power & desire, 04/00
A group of wayfarers – Mughal soldiers, musicians, Muslim and Hindu sages have met at a resting place. One soldier sleeps, but two others have stayed awake for a night of
discussions and music with the sages. Dawn is breaking; perhaps these men should go now, to join the army in the distance. They seem reluctant to leave each other’s company.
The sage’s life of material poverty and spiritual wealth has always exerted a pull on men of the world. The Mughal
fascination with ‘god’s fools’ reached its peak, when Shah Jahan’s son Dara Shikoh was the crown prince. Dara was a poet and mystic, who translated philosophical texts from the Sanskrit into Persian.

October 2005
Domains of Wonder
The Mughal master who painted this nocturnal scene of holy men, soldiers, and other travelers makes use of chiaroscuro effects (illumination and shadows caused by a particular light source) that are evidently inspired from European paintings. Each figure pays close attention to the holy man, who sits beneath a tree with his scissors, book, spectacles, and ink pot before him. Soldiers approach in the distance, as the last glimmer of daylight disappears over the horizon.
Last Updated: 6/28/2021

Exhibition

This object was included in the following exhibitions:

The Mughal and Deccani Schools: Indian Miniature Painting from the Collection of Edwin Binney, 3rd The Portland Art Association , 12/2/1973 - 3/7/1976

The Grand Mogul: Imperial Painting in India, 1600-1660 Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute , 9/25/1978 - 6/10/1979

Myths, Monsters, Maharajas: Introducing the Binney Collection San Diego Museum of Art , 11/23/1991 - 1/26/1992

Payag , 1/24/1994 - 7/24/1994

Payag , 1/24/1994 - 7/24/1994

Power & Desire: South Asian Paintings from the San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego Museum of Art , 4/29/2000 - 10/5/2003

Domains of Wonder: Selected Masterworks of Indian Painting San Diego Museum of Art , 10/22/2005 - 1/27/2008

Bibliography

This object has the following bibliographic references:

Dr. Edwin Binney, 3rd. The Mughal and Deccani Schools Portland Art Museum. Portland, Oregon, 1973
Page Number: 80, 84, Figure Number: 59

Dr. Milo Cleveland Beach and Mr. Stuart Cary Welch. The Grand Mogul: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, Massachusetts, 1978
Page Number: 151, 152, 153, 154, Figure Number: 52, 52 (detail)

Amina Okada. Indian Miniatures of the Mughal Court Harry N. Abrams, Inc.. New York, New York, 1992
Page Number: 210, 214, Figure Number: 251

Bonnie C. Wade. Imaging Sound: An Ethnomusicological Study of Music, Art, and Culture in Mughal The University of Chicago Press. Chicago, Illinois, 1998
Page Number: 159, Figure Number: 159

Bonnie C. Wade. Imaging Sound: An Ethnomusicological Study of Music, Art, and Culture in Mughal The University of Chicago Press. Chicago, Illinois, 1998
Page Number: 196, 197, 198

Partha Mitter. A History of Art Barnes & Noble Books. 1995
Page Number: 262, Figure Number: 262

Power and Desire: Hong Kong Museum of Art. 2001
Page Number: cat. no. 21, Figure Number: 21

Catalogue of Important Mughal Miniatures, Sotheby & Co.. London, England, March 26, 1973
Page Number: 36, Lot no. 30, Figure Number: 30

Amina Okada. Pouvoir et Désir: Miniatures Indiennes, Collection Edwin Binney 3rd du San Diego Museum of Art Paris musées/Éditions Findakly. Paris/Suilly-la-Tour, France, 2002
Page Number: 70-71, 72-73, Figure Number: 21 (and detail)

Dr. Milo Cleveland Beach. King of the World: Azimuth Editions Limited. London, England, 1997
Page Number: 128, 129 note 57, Figure Number: 25

Mr. Benjamin Zucker and Dr. Milo Cleveland Beach. Green, Overlook Press. Woodstock, New York, 2002
Page Number: 218, 219, 247, Figure Number: 218

Som Prakash Verma. Mughal Painters and Their Work: Oxford University Press. New Delhi, India, 1994
Page Number: 329 no. 19

Brijinder Nath Goswamy and Dr. Caron Smith. Domains of Wonder: San Diego Museum of Art. San Diego, California, 2005
Page Number: 156, 157, Figure Number: 62

Marks

Inscription, Upper right: painted by Bichitir

Inscription, On reverse:

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