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A nilgai

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Bookmark: https://collection.sdmart.org/objects-1/info/5496

A nilgai

Creation date: ca. 1655

Creation place: India

Other Information

Type: Watercolor Painting

Medium and Support: Opaque watercolor on paper

Credit Line: Edwin Binney 3rd Collection

Accession Number: 1990.360

State/Province: Delhi

Dimensions: 3 19/32 in. x 4 3/4 in. (9.1 cm x 12.1 cm)

Provenance

Adrienne Minassian, New York, New York ( - September 22, 1961)

Edwin Binney 3rd, San Diego, California (September 22, 1961 - August 27, 1990)

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

Label Copy

The Great Mughals: Power and Patronage (2002-3)
Jahangir (World-Seizer), 1569-1627

A NILGAI (BLUE DEER)
Opaque watercolor on paper, ca. 1655
Edwin Binney 3rd Collection
1990:360

SUBJECT
Animal studies were a favorite subject of imperial Mughal patrons, combining their interest in specific observation, encounters with new species in the regions they conquered and through the frequent movement from place to place that was part of their lifestyle, fanatical pleasure in hunting, and, it would seem, an open appreciation for the wonder of God’s creation. This nilgai (blue deer) is presented isolated from its natural habitat, within a man made world, as though a specimen. Nilgai must have been abundant in north India; the count of the numbers taken in the hunt is staggering.

STYLE
This small study of a doe in profile, although seemingly formulaic, is remarkable for the skill required to render its coat, soft muzzle, and supple musculature at small scale. Even more intriguing is the setting, perhaps a stone wall or a water channel, but certainly a blue that mediates between the turquoise grass and the azure sky. An awkwardness in the hind legs, the near leg appearing shorter than the far one, swings the distinctive markings of the rump into view, and suggests that the doe might have been drinking from the flowing water, and lifted her head sensing a human presence. Frozen in this moment, the eye of the nilgai is fixed on the viewer, giving an arresting immediacy to the “portrait.” This genre of animal portraiture reached its zenith during the reigns of Jahangir and Shah Jahan.

Last Updated: 9/5/2017

Exhibition

This object was included in the following exhibitions:

The Great Mughals: Power and Patronage , 3/13/2003 - 9/1/2003

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