On view
South Asian Art
Bhils Hunting by Night,
ca. 1760
Faizallah, act. 1750–1799; active Delhi and Lucknow, India
Indian
2016-51
The inscription in Persian below this painting translates as “Bhil huntresses on their way to the Deccan, hunting deer at night.” The Bhils form one of the largest tribal groups in India and are settled mostly in the north. This painting captures three female Bhils on a hunting expedition in the Deccan region of central India. Clad in leaf skirts, the young women work together to stalk their prey. One shines an oil-fired lantern at a group of deer, illuminating the scene and startling the animals into stillness. This allows the central figure, clad in a red turban, to fire her arrow and accurately hit a black buck. The other animals register their alarm and begin to flee in terror.
Information
Title
Bhils Hunting by Night
Dates
ca. 1760
Maker
Medium
Opaque pigments with gold on paper, with blue and buff outer borders
Dimensions
25.7 × 16.8 cm (10 1/8 × 6 5/8 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase, Hugh Leander Adams, Mary Trumbull Adams and Hugh Trumbull Adams Princeton Art Fund
Object Number
2016-51
Place Made
Asia, India, Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow, Awadh
Inscription
In black nasta’liq above the hunters:
‘amal-i Faizalla
On the margin below in nasta’liq:
‘Bhil huntresses on their way to the
Deccan, hunting deer at night’
On the reverse in nagari: Ram
Ram seems to be a boy’s name. This was possibly added by a previous owner who believed the middle figure, who is depicted wearing a turban and a vest, was a boy. Nagari script is an indigenous India script first used to write Sanskrit and Prakrit. See below.
Culture
Period
Type
Materials
Techniques
Before 1973– Edwin Binney III (1925–1986).
1975–1985 Paul Wonner (1920–2008).
1985–2015 Private Collector (Los Angeles, CA).
2015–2016 Oliver Forge and Brendan Lynch, Ltd. (London, UK), sold to the Princeton University Art Museum, 2016.
1975–1985 Paul Wonner (1920–2008).
1985–2015 Private Collector (Los Angeles, CA).
2015–2016 Oliver Forge and Brendan Lynch, Ltd. (London, UK), sold to the Princeton University Art Museum, 2016.
-
Edwin Binney, Indian miniature painting from the Collection of Edwin Binney 3rd: An exhibition at the Portland Art Museum, December 2, 1973–January 20, 1974 (Portland: Portland Art Museum, 1973)
, no. 100 (illus.) -
"Acquisitions of the Princeton University Art Museum 2016," Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 75/76 (2016-17): 126-157.
, p. 142
