A Ruler Presents a Document to Visiting Nobles (c. 1700–1720): Art, History and Details

A Ruler Presents a Document to Visiting Nobles (c. 1700–1720) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Many carpets produced in the southwestern region of the Indian subcontinent feature a tone-on-tone mustard-yellow color scheme with lattice design. It demarcates the space of honor for the highest-ranking members of the refined gathering of literary connoisseurs. The figure facing right, with the peacock-feather whisk held over him, would be the host. He has a letter or poem in his hand. His guests have partaken of an aromatic betel-leaf packet (paan) and a rose from the dishes between them. Implements for writing and trimming paper lie on the carpet between a spittoon and courtly stabbing dagger (katar).

Object facts

• Title: A Ruler Presents a Document to Visiting Nobles
• Date: c. 1700–1720
• Culture: Mughal India, Deccan
• Type: Painting
• Technique: Gum tempera and gold on paper
• Dimensions: Overall: 22 x 32.7 cm (8 11/16 x 12 7/8 in.)
• Collection: Indian Art
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 1996.296

A detail from the museum

The figure in white has his mouth open, indicating that he is singing, accompanied by the musician behind him.

Collection credit

Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Cleveland Museum of Art, “Renaissance Armor, Early Islamic Ceramic, French Vase, Gleitsman Painting Added to Museum Collection,” December 13, 1996, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.