Katalog

34 The Indian Paintings at the Dresden Kupferstich-Kabinett: A Hybrid The painting method used for the Indian miniatures is similar to the European gouache tech- nique. 3 The support consists of a special paper called wasli . It is made by bonding two or more sheets of thin paper that are then burnished with a polishing stone to produce a smooth, glossy texture. The making of a painting began by outlining the composition in red or black. As these outlines shone through the subsequently applied layer of chalk or white lead, the contours could be drawn in black ink. The different pictorial planes, from the background to the foreground, were then created in corresponding colours. The pigments of each newly applied layer were condensed by turning the paper over and smoothing it, from the back, with a polishing stone ( agate ) or a Kauri snail (Latin: cypraea tigris ). The enamel-like gloss characteristic of miniatures— the key difference between them and Western watercolours—was created using this process. The painting was completed by adding details such as contours and shadows, physiognomic features, and jewellery with a very fine brush made of a single squirrel hair. The manufacture of Indian miniature paintings traditionally involved a number of partici- pants. The master painter ( musawwir , ustād ) was responsible for the overall composition and the execution of the artistically more demanding elements; several subordinate painters ( shāgird ) employed in his workshop ( tasvīrkhāna ) took care of the simpler parts. In addition there was an assembler and a paper manufacturer ( wasligar ), who provided the miniature with a more or less elaborate paper frame. At times, a special painter ( naqshanavī ) added artistic ornaments to the frame. Calligraphers ( khusnavīs ) often added magnificently executed religious or lyrical texts on the verso of the mounted miniatures. In the context of investigating the studios of court painters appointed to Mughal rulers such as Akbar, Jahāngīr, and Shāh Jahān, art-historical research has in recent decades identified a number of artists and their workshops. In general, however, Indian miniatures were rarely signed, especially if they were not commissioned by the court and manufactured for lesser nobles or the European market, which is probably the case with the Kupferstich-Kabinett’s Indian collection. 4 From a technical point of view, the two consignments of early eighteenth- and nineteenth-century miniatures preserved in Dresden are of a hybrid character indicative of the underlying cultural exchange that took place between India and Europe. Indian miniatures were usually provided with a broad paper frame so that they could be either bound into albums or protected when the sheets were held when viewed. 5 These frames come in lavishly ornamented and simple monochromatic versions. The sheets from the Schlegel Collection, on the other hand, were completely pasted on larger, sometimes five-ply cardboard of different formats. The protruding edges were then decorated with a painted frame, whose design is reminiscent of European wooden picture frames of the classicist era. Cavettos, common about 1800, with their specific depth were imitated using a brown resin containing colour and gold. 6 Numerous nail holes on all four sides of the illuminated frames suggest that a former owner had affixed the miniatures to a wall. 7 In the Indian context, this form of mounting is rather unusual. It could therefore have been either manufactured in India for a European collec- tor or the European market or produced in Europe right away. In a paper analysis examining their material composition, the cover papers, added later to protect the miniatures, were discov- ered to be of Indian origin, leading to the hypothesis that they were likely made in India. 8 In conformity with the traditional form of preserving Indian paintings at Mughal courts between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, however, the miniatures from Augustus the Strong’s collection are mounted in albums. Two albums have an Oriental binding (cat. 1 and 3) charac­ terised by a lack of protruding edges; instead, the fore-edge is often covered with a flap. 9 Conversely, the other two albums (cat. 2 and 4) have European bindings; in two of them, the watermarks in endpapers and interleaving sheets suggest that they are of Dutch or English manufacture. 10 The gold embossed geometric patterns on the front and back covers of these albums, however, have a somewhat orientalising look for the European eye; here, too, the form of presentation combines Indian and European styles, thus raising questions about makers, clients, and trade routes. Fig. 1b Inscriptions on verso seen via transmitted light in nāgarī : S[…]ingh; in nasta‘līq : Suk- hah Singh; and in Dutch: Sockeng Fig. 1a Cat. 4 | Ca 111/43 (fol. 39) Sukh Sīngh Deccani Mughal, late 17 th  –  early 18 th century Watercolour and gold, 16.6×9.9 cm