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Fantastic
Animals Persia and Mughal India
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| The Persianate Fantastic
Animals are representative of animals seen in a
wide range of classical carpets and art. From the
Timurid into the
Safavi period and as such are often seen in
Persian animal carpets. These fantastic animals
are seen in Mughal art from the sixteenth century
well into the seventeenth. The concept of a wide
range of mythical creatures seems to runs
decidedly contrary to the
"Naturalistic" style that came into
vogue under the Padishah
Jahangir 1605 to 1628, but they are used all
through that period. Examples of Fantastic
Animals are most prevalent in the Fantastical
Realism that was seen under the Padishah Akbar and take
a generally diminishing role from 1605 on. We see
this in the portrayal of dragons. We do see
dragons that are from the Timurid roots and can
be seen in an increasingly degenerative state in
Mughal art as time passes. |
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Azhdar (Persian name used for this
type of dragon)
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Detail - from the rug.
Please note the similarities in the fangs, the
center spiked ridge, the ribbed back, and the
feathery streamers in this detail and the one
directly below.
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Detail - "The Raven Addresses the
Assembled Animals", 1.
Circa 1590, ascribed to Miskin. British
Museum, London.
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Margin illustrations from the
"Golestan of
Sa'di" attributed to a Persian Artist Aqa Mirak. Circa
1530 2. The Fantastic
Animals are certainly more in the design
repertoire that came down through Persia and
Central Asia. So, how then would a Hindu artist
in the Mughal Kitab Khana like Miskin become
aquatinted with this design repertoire? We know
that Miskin went through a course of study at the
court of Akbar where he was exposed to these
animals. These Fantastic Animals are from a
Persian book owned by Akbar. And were used by his
artists to study and copy. The Imperial Kitab
Khana brought in promising artists and led them
through a course of study, apprenticeship, and
then as far as their talents could take them.
Miskin's work bears so many similarities to Aqa Mirak, we must
presume that he copied them. As I allude to in
the section on fighting camels, it is normal for
art to be copied by a wide range of artists over
a period of time. A young artist such as Miskin
would identify qualities he admired in an earlier
artist, and then would learn from him by copying
works of his art.
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| N. B. Margin illustrations are
often more esthetically aligned to carpets than
the miniature themselves. Please note how these
margin illustrations have a mixture of pictorial
elements and flowers as such as we might see in a
carpet. I have yet to see a Mughal carpet which
is a unified pictorial representation of a scene
as we may see in Miniatures. Instead we get a
pastiche of similar but not unified icons.
Miniatures are a higher form of art. They are art
unto themselves and as such are a primary art
form. Margins and carpets are secondary art and
are meant to be seen in relationship to other
things. A miniature without a border is a
complete work of art. But, a border without a
miniature is less than whole. To really
understand Mughal carpets we must learn that to
which they were secondary. |
Margin
illustrations from the "Golestan of
Sa'di" attributed to a Persian Artist Aqa Mirak.
Circa 1530 |
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Detail - from the rug.
Please note the split tail, with the wisps at
the split, the feathery streamers from the
shoulders and the legs, and the similar long
ears.
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Detail - Margin illustrations from the
"Golestan of Sa'di" attributed to Aqa Mirak. Circa
1530.
While this detail is not by Miskin as
mentioned above it is by an artist Miskin was
familiar with and one whom Miskin copied as a
student.
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Both Aqa Mirak and
Miskin were masters of the style of portraying action. We
can see that same portrayal of action in the carpet as
well as in Miskin's other work. When studying Miskin it
is more important to study the style of portrayal than
the animals themselves. Many artists portrayed much of
the same imagery but none in his genre mastered the
explosive action quality of Miskin. For our rather
limited purposes here I must note that no other artist of
that era can be associated with all the animals related
to the Mughal Animal carpet as can Miskin. Every animal
in the carpet can be found in Miskin's work with the
exception of the mythical canine. That of course may be
due to the fact that only a small portion of Miskin's
work is known to exist today. and I note that I did not
find that particular iconographic representation in
anyone else's work.
The Widener Mughal
Animal Carpet, Realistic
Animals, Conclusion
1. Okada, Amina. Indian Miniatures of
the Mughal Court. Translated by Deke Dusinberre, (New
York: Harry N. Abrahms, Inc. Publishers, 1992), p. 128
Plate 138
2. Soudavar, Abolala. Art of the
Persian Court. (New York: Rizzoli, 1992), p. 332 and 333
and cat. no. 136, (folio 6r, 5v)
For Further Reading:
Thanks and best wishes,
J. Barry O'Connell Jr.
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