San Diego Museum of Art - A Dwarf Flying Squirrel hanging from a Kuru Creeper

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A Dwarf Flying Squirrel hanging from a Kuru Creeper

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Bookmark: https://collection.sdmart.org/objects-1/info/5230

A Dwarf Flying Squirrel hanging from a Kuru Creeper

Shaikh Zayn al-Din, Indian, b. 18th century

Creation date: ca. 1780

Creation place: India

Other Information

Type: Watercolor Painting

Medium and Support: Opaque watercolor on paper

Credit Line: Edwin Binney 3rd Collection

Accession Number: 1990.1358

State/Province: West Bengal

Dimensions: 20 7/8 in. x 29 17/32 in. (53 cm x 75 cm)

Provenance

Mary Impey, London, England (ca. 1780 - 1855)

Linnaean Society, London, England (1855 - June 10, 1963)

Edwin Binney 3rd, San Diego, California (June 10, 1963 - August 27, 1990)

Sotheby's, London, England (June 10, 1963 - June 10, 1963)

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

Label Copy

In the Company Manner (2009), SDMA Gallery Rotation

Shaikh Zayn al-Din was a virtuoso artist, apparently the scion of imperial Mughal painters. He succeeded in creating a tactile quality in both the plant and the animal, taking evident delight in the diverse types of fur and curling tendrils of the flowering vine. The squirrel's subtly veined membranous wings contrast remarkably to the texture of the heavily veined leaves. Although Shaikh Zayn al-Din provided his name and states in the inscription that he is a native of the northeastern city of Patna, which is on hte banks of the Ganges River, little else is known about him.

Sonya Quintanilla (2014) Quebec
Shaikh Zayn al-Din
A Dwarf Flying Squirrel hanging from a Kuru Creeper
From the Impey Album
Calcutta, India, ca. 1780
Opaque watercolor on paper. 53 cm x 75 cm
Edwin Binney 3rd Collection, 1990.1358

Shaikh Zayn al-Din was a virtuoso artist, apparently the scion of imperial Mughal painters. In this painting, he succeeded in creating a tactile quality in both the plant and the animal, taking evident delight in the diverse types of fur and the curling tendrils of the flowering vine. The squirrel's subtly veined membranous wings contrast remarkably to the texture of the heavily veined leaves. The painting has several features that suggest it was created in Lady Impey’s preferred style, not least of which is the squirrel’s pairing with an indigenous plant. While the neutral background and detached point of view are clear evidence of the pressure to please European eyes, the precise detail work, exquisite gradations of green on the Kuru Creeper, and choice to depict the squirrel’s head in profile while the body is exhibitionistically en face suggest the persistence of a more traditional Indian aesthetic.

Although Shaikh Zayn al-Din provided his name and states in the inscription that he is a native of the northeastern city of Patna, which is on the banks of the Ganges River, little else is known about him.
Last Updated: 9/5/2017

Exhibition

This object was included in the following exhibitions:

A Flower from Every Meadow: Indian Paintings from American Collections Asia Society Galleries , 3/21/1973 - 11/11/1973

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

In the Company Manner: Indian-British Painting ca. 1770-1890 (Binney Rotation) , 3/28/2009 - 9/27/2009

Into India: South Asian Paintings from The San Diego Museum of Art San Diego Museum of Art , 2/28/2012 - 5/27/2012

Bibliography

This object has the following bibliographic references:

Mr. Stuart Cary Welch and Mark Zebrowski. A Flower from Every Meadow: Asia House Gallery. New York, New York, 1973
Page Number: 21

Mr. Stuart Cary Welch. A Flower from Every Meadow: Asia House Gallery. New York, New York, 1973
Page Number: 13

Mr. Stuart Cary Welch and Mark Zebrowski. A Flower from Every Meadow: Asia House Gallery. New York, New York, 1973
Page Number: 120-121, Figure Number: 71b

Deborah Marrow. The J. Paul Getty Trust: The J. Paul Getty Trust. Santa Monica, California, 1995
Page Number: 40, Figure Number: bottom

William George Archer, OBE, MA, D.Litt. and Mildred Archer. Indian Paintings for the British, 1770–1880 Oxford University Press. London, England, 1955
Page Number: 94-95, Figure Number: plate 21, fig. 44

Dr. Caron Smith. San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego Museum of Art. San Diego, California, 2003
Page Number: 87, Figure Number: 87

Art of the Islamic and Indian Worlds Christie's. London, England, October 7, 2008
Page Number: 284

Dr. Sonya Quintanilla and Patrick Coleman. Visiones de la India Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza. Madrid, 2012
Page Number: 210, 292, Figure Number: cat. 92, p. 211

Dr. Sonya Quintanilla and Patrick Coleman. Visiones de la India (Mexico) Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia. Mexico , 2013
Page Number: 156, Figure Number: cat. 91, p. 163

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