Katalog

23 portraits common in the Deccan at the beginning of the eighteenth century, with all the stylistic variations and developments. In addition to notes in nasta‘līq and devanāgarī , the similarly assembled album Ca 111 features descriptions of the figures in Dutch. 18 On the basis of the hand- writing, the inscriptions can be dated to the time the volume was assembled. According to the descriptions, the ten portraits of women at the end of the volume were added later. A set of portraits of Indian rulers in medallions is designated as Japanese in the Heucher Inventory, number 17: “18 miniature portraits of Japanese kings mounted on a small board” (cat. 5). 19 Under number 3 (cat. 6–7), other Indian works are listed as “2 beautiful Chinese paintings—under glass and in a gilt frame.” 20 Under number 30 (cat. 88) we find “1 Chinese Almanac.” 21 Number 32 (cat. 89) is described as “13 portraits from the Great Mughal’s court, a small blue booklet bound with golden decorated paper.” 22 The volume itself, however, is labelled “Japanese miniature portraits.” The categorisation of Indian works as Japanese or Chinese was not atypical for the period. For dealers and collectors who usually brought the works with them as members of the East India Company, making them accessible to a European clientele, ‘Oriental’ and Asian rarities were of equal interest. They were often acquired together from one source and not necessarily recorded precisely. Even in contemporary travelogues, there are frequent summaries, mixtures, and mis- takes—most of all when using visual depictions, which usually draw on the models from the countries visited. 23 These errors are, however, counterbalanced by the great interest reflected in widely printed and illustrated reports and in the booming art market. Important private collections of Asian works on paper, including Indian paintings, had begun in the Netherlands by the mid-seven- teenth century. For instance, it is well known that Rembrandt owned a large collection of por- traits of Indian princes, which he copied. 24 For contemporary collectors it was apparently more important to associate the pictures with historic names than to achieve a definitive attribution of the works that came to Europe from India. After being assembled on a single sheet and mounted on a wooden board, the eighteen fig. 3 The Great Mughal’s Court Etching, 20.8×29.4 cm From François Bernier, Voyages . . . contenaent la description des ètats du Grand Mogol . . ., Amsterdam 1714, vol. 2, p. 40 Sächsiche Landesbibliothek – Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Dresden, sig. Geogr.C.906-1,2 fig. 4 The Throne of the Great Mughal Aurangzēb Johann Melchior Dinglinger and workshop (Dresden), c. 1701–1708 Goldwork and enamel, 58×142×114 cm Grünes Gewölbe (Green Vault), Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, inv.no. VIII 204