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233 - The game of ganjifa, North India, Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow or …
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Estimate €5,000 - €7,000
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Description
The game of ganjifa, North India, Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow or Faizabad, second half of the 18th century, attributable to Faizullah Musavvir Gouache and gold on paper depicting a group of four women sitting or kneeling on the terrace of a palace, playing a game of ganjifa by candlelight, the scene taking place at night. A fifth woman on the left is serving a drink from a small cup. On the right-hand side of the porch of the pavilion behind them, an inscription in Arabic reads "amal Faizullah musavvir" ("Made by the painter Faizullah"). Mounted as an album page on card with two gilded floral borders on beige and midnight blue backgrounds respectively. On the reverse, a calligraphic composition in Persian nasta'liq comprising eight verses from Sa'adi's Bustan, probably Iran qâjâr, inscribed in oblique and horizontal reserves on a squared background and separated by cartouches and spandrels illuminated in gold and polychrome, a frieze of gilded palmettes on a midnight-blue background encircling the whole mounted with a gold-powdered margin. Framed. Page size: 33.4 x 25.6 cm; painting size: 23.3 x 15.6 cm; calligraphy size: 18.7 x 11.7 cm Painting: small tears, small fillings and traces of varnish (?), some polychromy; calligraphy: accidents, missing parts, folds, stains. Provenance : Galerie Joseph Soustiel, Paris, acquired in the 1960s (label on the back).
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About the sale Archaeology & Arts of Islam and India
Auction location
Auction time 06/26/2026 at 1:30 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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