Lot 258. A group of princes out hawking, Murshidabad, Provincial Mughal, North India, mid 18th century. Opaque pigments and gold on paper, backed on cream card Painting 10 3/8 x 15 7/8 ins. (27.7 x 40.3 cm.). Estimate USD 200,000 - USD 300,000. Price realised USD 543,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2019.

Note: This beautiful illustration of a group of royal princes out hawking finds close comparison with a large landscape painting from Murshidabad in the Swinton Collection which depicts the Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah (r.1719-48) hunting cranes with his hawks, attributable to the artist Chitarman, dating circa 1725-30 (Losty, 2017, p.799, no.35). Both paintings illustrate the hunting cavalcade in the foreground with the figures dressed in traditional green hunting attire. Covered wagons drawn by bullocks on the left, hawks attacking cranes mid-air on the right, and the background receding with distant views of hills and an imperial entourage marching through are elements common to both paintings.