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Ⓛ King Zahhak enthroned among the chained div and fawns
Indi…
See original version (French)
113
-
Ⓛ King Zahhak enthroned among the chained div and fawns
Indi…
See original version (French)
Estimate €1,800 - €2,000
Voluntary lot
Description
Ⓛ King Zahhak enthroned among the chained div and fawns
India, Indo-Persian workshop, circa 1680-1740
Opaque pigments and gold on paper, mounted on album page with margins dotted with gold flecks. In the centre, the crowned King Zahhak, dressed in a red robe with floral motifs, sits majestically on a ceremonial bed; his hands, with long black nails, betray his demonic nature. Around him come to life divs (demons) with animal heads - bulls, bears, black-skinned creatures - as well as two figures with long protruding red tongues, evoking the legendary snakes born from his shoulders. In the foreground, two chained felines (lions and tigers) lie beneath the throne; at the foot of the bed lie severed heads, a direct reference to the daily tribute Zahhak demands of his subjects. The background features a pavilion with a twisted column and a façade decorated with stylised floral scrolls.
Painting: 20 x 16.7 cm (7.9 x 6.6 in.); page: 32 x 21.8 cm (12.6 x 8.6 in.)
Provenance:
Former British private collection, acquired in the 1990s.
This miniature illustrates a scene from Ferdowsi's Shahnameh ("Book of Kings") (d. c. 1020), Persia's national epic completed around 1010. It depicts Zahhak, the tyrannical demon king, who was seduced by Ahriman, the spirit of evil. Ahriman asked Zahhak to kiss his shoulders, from which two black snakes sprang, demanding human brains every day to feed on. After killing his father, Zahhak became King of Persia and reigned in terror for a thousand years, demanding the daily sacrifice of young men from his subjects - to which the severed heads at the foot of the throne explicitly refer - before finally being defeated by the hero Fereydun.
The iconography of the demonic court, populated by animal-like divinities and chained wild beasts, is typical of illustrations of the Shahnameh in the Persian and Indo-Persian world. The present composition, in which costumes, hairstyles and armour are more in keeping with the Iranian Safavid repertoire than with Mughal conventions, suggests an Indo-Persian workshop trained in Persian iconography - probably active in the Deccan (Bijapur or Golconda), where the migration of Iranian painters maintained a sustained artistic dialogue between the two traditions from the seventeenth to the early eighteenth century.
A miniature depicting King Zahhak enthroned among demons and chained beasts, opaque pigments and gold on paper, mounted on an album page with gold-flecked margins, India, Indo-Persian school, c. 1680-1740.
Location:
The work is currently stored in London; please contact the department for further information.
Notes:
British VAT of 20% will apply to this lot currently located in London. In case of export from UK, VAT on sale fees can be refunded upon presentation of customs documentation.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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