Brahminy Starling on Neem Tree Branch 1780
sheikhzainaldin
minneapolisinstituteofart
drawing, watercolor
portrait
drawing
water colours
asian-art
watercolor
watercolour illustration
watercolor
"Brahminy Starling on Neem Tree Branch" is a watercolor painting by Sheikh Zain al-Din, a prominent Indian artist, created in 1780. The artwork depicts a detailed depiction of a Brahminy Starling perched on a Neem tree branch, with the artist expertly capturing the bird's plumage and the intricate details of the foliage. This painting is a fine example of Mughal miniature painting, showcasing the artist's skilled use of color and meticulous attention to detail. The artwork currently resides at the Minneapolis Institute of Art.
Comments
The famed ‘Impey Album,’ to which these 11 natural history studies originally belonged, marks the beginning of a new school in the canon of Indian Painting: that is “Company Painting’’—so called after the British East India Company, which by 1757 had taken effective rule over the sub-continent—spanning from c. 1760-1880 and distinguished by native painters adapting to the needs of Colonial tastes. The result was an emergence of a distinctive Anglo-Indian aesthetic, which we see in the remarkable paintings here. Between 1777-1783, Lady Mary Impey, wife of the recently appointed Chief Justice of Bengal, Sir Elijah Impey, commissioned three artists: a Muslim, Shaik Zain ud-Din, and two Hindus, Bhawani Das and Ram Das (all of whom trained in a Provincial Mughal atelier in the neighboring city of Patna) to record the newfound wonders of her Calcutta aviary and menagerie.
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