Muhammad Rizavi Hindi (Indian, active mid-1700s) India, Lucknow, Mughal, 18th century Opaque watercolor, ink, and gold on paper (recto); ink and opaque watercolor with gold on paper (verso) Page: 28 x 23.8 cm (11 x 9 3/8 in.) Gift in honor of Madeline Neves Clapp; Gift of Mrs. Henry White Cannon by exchange; Bequest of Louise T. Cooper; Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund; From the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection 2013.347 DID YOU KNOW? The archer’s thumb ring is for drawing the bowstring. Perhaps he was left-handed. DESCRIPTION Emperor Muhammad Shah, who reigned from 1719 to 1748, was known as “Rangila,” which means “the Colorful.” The innovative use of a black background sharply sets off the chartreuse green of his jama and the pearls of his adornments and bolster. On his left thumb he wears an archer’s ring, and a stabbing dagger is tucked into his bejeweled belt. Even his trained hunting falcon has a ruby necklace. In this formal posthumous portrait, the master artist conveys a heightened realism that emerges effortlessly from elegant contour lines and bold use of color. 

The work was part of an album of paintings collected in India before 1811 by a Scottish politician who worked for the British East India Company. INSCRIPTION recto: Persian inscription in top margin, in nasta‘liq script. Picture of Muhammad Shah, the Great Warrior King INSCRIPTION recto: Persian inscription at bottom center of painting, in nasta‘liq script. The work of the lowly Muhammad Riza, the Indian 178 [AH 1178] PROVENANCE before 1811-1849 Sir Charles Forbes, 7th Baronet [1773-1849], Bengal, London, and Scotland, by descent to his great-grandson, Colonel Sir John Forbes ?-1962 Colonel Sir John Stewart Forbes [1901-1984], Baronet, DSO, DL, Allargue House, Strathdon, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, UK, consigned to Sotheby's London for sale December 10, 1962 (Sotheby’s, London, Western and Oriental Manuscripts and Miniatures, 10 December 1962, lot 25, sold to Ralph Benkaim) 1962-2013 Ralph Benkaim [1914-2001] and Catherine Glynn Benkaim [b. 1946], Beverly Hills, CA, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art 2013- The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH CITATIONS Desai, Vishakha N., B. N. Goswamy, and Ainslie Thomas Embree. Life at Court: Art for India's Rulers, 16th-19th Centuries. Boston, MA: Museum of Fine Arts, 1985. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 39, cat. no. 35 Mace, Sonya Rhie, Mohsen Ashtiany, Catherine Glynn, Pedro Moura Carvalho, Marcus Fraser, and Ruby Lal. Mughal Paintings: Art and Stories: the Cleveland Museum of Art. London: D Giles Limited, 2016. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 90, p. front and back covers, p. 251 EXHIBITION HISTORY Indian Miniature Paintings in West Coast Private Collections. Society for Asian Art, De Young Museum, San Francisco, CA (May 29-July 19, 1964). Life at Court: art for India's rulers, 16th-19th centuries. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA (November 20, 1985-February 9, 1986). Art and Stories from Mughal India. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (July 31-October 23, 2016).

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