Humayun’s Garden Party:From The Art Of Dining Exhibition

Humayun’s Garden Party
This remarkable painting, painted on pieces of cloth stitched together is one of the highlights of the Art of Dining exhibition in Detroit Institute of Arts.
Mir Sayyid Ali (1510-1572) the painter came from Persia to Kabul & then India on Humayun’s invitation.
This painting could possibly be Kabul, Afghanistan, about 1545-55
According to the catalog this could have been a wall hanging or tent fitting.
It shows The Princes of the House of Timur.
The Mughals always addressed themselves as Khandan-e Timuriya. The word Mughal as I have explained in my historical novel was an epithet bestowed on them probably by the Portuguese.
The catalog mentions that this lavish spread with gold dishes, could be a reference to the 1200 dishes that Shah Tahmasp had ordered his governors to serve Humayun during his sojourn in Persia, while on the run.
As was common in those days, the painting was refurbished & Akbar, Jahangir were added in the garden pavilion while Shah Jahan stands outside, denoting that he wasn’t yet a king.
the kitchen attendants at upper left are later additions, the dining-related elements seem mainly to belong to the time of Humayun.
These additions by other artists in the including Bichitr, Balchand, Dawlat, Govardhan, Hiranand, Inayat, Mohan, Nanha, and others, Mughal India, early-mid-1600s
Opaque watercolor on cotton