Bhupat Das

(India)

Title

Ibrahim Adham ministered by angels

Place of origin

Murshidabad → West Bengal → India

Period

Provincial Mughal circa 1748 - circa 1860 → India

Year

circa 1760

Media categories

Miniature, Painting, Watercolour

Materials used

opaque watercolour with gold on paper

Dimensions

18.7 x 12cm image; 27.1 x 20.1cm sheet

Signature & date

Signed l.c.[on water flask carried by centre angel]. Black ink. Persian script. Not dated.

Credit

Purchased 1962

Accession number

EP7.1962

Location

Not on display

Further information

Ibrahim Adham (died c778 CE) was a Prince of Balkh (ancient Bactria, now Afghan Turkestan), who governed a large province in the northeast of Persia. He renounced his throne to live as an ascetic in the wilderness. He is regarded as one of Islam's earliest ascetics, a great Sufi master and a prominent mystic. In this painting, Ibrahim Adham is attended to by angels who bring him food and water. The name of the artist, Bhupat Das, is given in an inscription on the waterflask.

The Asian Collections, AGNSW, 2003, pg.38.

Bibliography (4)

Jim Masselos (Australia) (Author), Divine and Courtly Life in Indian Painting, Domain, 1991. cat.no. 10.1

Haema Sivanesan (Australia) (Assistant Curator), Indian Painting, Sydney, 2001. cat.no. 3.9

'Mughals and Maharajas: The Miniature Paintings of Courtly India', The Asian Collections Art Gallery of New South Wales 2003, 2003, 38 (colour illus.).

Rachel Kent (Australia) (Author), Shahzia Sikander, Sydney, 2007, 96 (colour illus.).

Exhibition history (5)

A survey of Indian art (1967), Fisher Library, University of Sydney, 06 Sep 1967–23 Sep 1967.

Divine and Courtly Life in Indian Painting, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 04 Oct 1991–08 Jan 1992.

Indian Painting, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 06 Apr 2001–11 Jun 2001.

Intimate Encounters: Indian paintings from Australian collections, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 22 Feb 2007–04 May 2007.

Shahzia Sikander, Museum of Contemporary Art, 27 Nov 2007–17 Feb 2008.