[The Prince Encounters a Village Girl at a Well],

£18,750 · Offered by Shapero Rare Books

Scenes painted around imagined amorous encounters between the 'prince and village girl' were popular among artists during the late Mughal period in centres such as Delhi, Lucknow, and Murshidabad. The concept of 'love at first sight' was similarly echoed in the tradition of the courtly poets of the pan-European middle ages and can be seen echoed through their visual arts. The inspiration behind the theme in this painting was likely rooted in Persian literary sources, the Nayrang'i Eshq (The Charm of Love) by Mughal Sufi poet Ghanimat Kunjahi (d. 1695 AD), being one such example. Written during a period of considerable Muslim-Hindu cultural interaction, the poem was later absorbed into Sanskrit works and grew further in popularity. One notable section of the poem (stanza 40.7) describes how in pursuit of a stag, Shahid comes upon a village where he is struck by the sight of village girls at a well and is particularly struck by the beauty of Wafa, the daughter of the village headsman (see C. Shackle, Persian Poetry and Qādirī Sufism in Later Mughal India: Ghanīmat Kunjāhī and his Mathnawī-yi Nayrang-i 'ishq, in The Heritage of Sufism: Volume 3, Late Classical Persianate Sufism, Boston, 1999). In this painting, a beautiful maiden leans across to offer the handsome stranger a drink from the well. Neither appears abashed, and their eyes fix upon each other as if a spell has been cast. Of note is the way their hands come together around the vessel of water, though they do not touch

• Binding: Hardcover

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