- Title
- Prince Mirza Fakhruddin of Delhi (1816-1856) Attended by His Treasurer and Physician
- Date Made
- September 12, 1857
- Medium
- Woodcut engraving on paper
- Dimensions
- Image: 13 11/16 x 9 3/8 in. (34.77 x 23.81 cm); Sheet: 15 7/8 x 10 5/8 in. (40.32 x 26.99 cm); Mat: 18 1/8 x 14 in. (46.04 x 35.56 cm)
- Accession Number
- M.2000.165.1
- Collecting Area
- South and Southeast Asian Art
- Curatorial Notes
Based on a watercolor painted in 1856 by William Carpenter (1818-1899), now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (IS.193-1881), this faithful reproduction as a woodcut engraving was published in The Illustrated London News on September 12, 1857, p. 265. Carpenter arrived in Bombay (Mumbai) in the early 1850s. He traveled throughout western and northern India and Afghanistan before returning to England in 1857. He principally painted landscapes, monuments, street scenes, and portraits of local rulers.
Mirza Fakhruddin (1816-1856) was the last Crown Prince of the Mughal Empire. He was a younger but favorite son of Emperor Bahadur Shah II (r. 1837-1858). Following the death of his eldest brother, the former Crown Prince Mirza Dara Bakht (1790-1849), Mirza Fakhruddin was appointed Crown Prince in 1849 by Lord Dalhousie, Governor-General of India 1848-1856. He died prematurely in 1856, reportedly from cholera or poison.
Mirza Fakhruddin is portrayed seated on a wooden throne chair with florid cabriole legs and velvet upholstery (colored royal blue in the original painting). He wears a bejeweled golden crown with a feather plume (kigal), embroidered cloak over his long outer garment, and strands of pearls with large emeralds and balas rubies (red spinels). Laid across his lap is a European-style sabre with an ivory grip and gold or gilt brass pommel and finger grooves. His treasurer and physician standing behind him each hold an honorific peacock-feather fly whisk (morchal).
- Selected Bibliography
- Bautze, Joachim. Interaction of Cultures: Indian and Western Painting 1780-1910: The Ehrenfeld Collection. Alexandria, VA: Art Services International, 1998.
