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John Smart (1741 - 1811) An Indian Prince, Abdul Ali Khan [?] Watercolour on ivory: 2 ½ x 1 5/8 in. (5.7 x 4.2 cm.) Monogrammed and dated, lower right.: ‘JS / 1788 / I’ The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge (PD.16-1948).
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John Smart (1741 - 1811) Hafiz Muhammad Munavvar Khan (d. 1788), Amir-ul-umara of Arcot Watercolour on ivory: 2 ¼ x 1 5/8 in. (5.6 x 4.1 cm.) Monogrammed and dated, lower left: ‘JS / 1787 / I’ Sold Sotheby’s, London, 16 April 2008, lot 51 (£84,500)
Open a larger version of the following image in a popup:John Smart (1741 - 1811)
Muhammad Ali Khan (1718 - 1795), Nawab of Arcot and Prince of the Carnatic Watercolour on ivory: 2 7/8 by 2 ¼ in. (7.3 x 5.7 cm.) Monogrammed and dated, lower right.: ‘JS / 1791 / I’ Sold Sotheby’s, London, 16 April 2008, lot 50 (£120,500)
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Fig. 4 George Willison (1741 – 1797) Muhammad Ali Khan Walejah, Nawab of the Carnatic, with his son, Hafiz Muhammad Munavvar Khan, and grandson, Abdul Ali Khan Oil on canvas, painted circa 1780 Location unknown.
John Smart (1741 - 1811)
An Indian prince, probably Abdul Ali Khan, grandson of Muhammad Ali Khan, Nawab of the Carnatic, Drawn in 1787
Pencil, watercolour, and white heightening on tinted paper
3 x 2 1/8 in. (75 x 55 mm.)
Monogrammed and dated, lower right: ‘JS / 1787 / I’
Drawn in Madras by Britain’s most accomplished miniaturist John Smart (1741 – 1811), who was then working for the East India Company and as a court artist to the Nawab of the Carnatic, this drawing is a preparatory study for a finished miniature, which was painted on ivory the following year, now kept at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. The identity of the sitter has become estranged from the finished portrait, but it is more than likely that the subject is Abdul Ali Khan, grandson of the Nawab of the Carnatic, Muhammad Ali Khan (1717 – 1795), whose portrait was also painted by Smart in 1787.
Lt.-Col. Hubert Oliver Browne-Mason (1872 – 1930), Royal Army Medical Corps, British Indian Army, Cheltenham; thence by descent, until 2023, when bequeathed to
Private collection, England.
Smart was the most sought-after British miniaturist to visit India during the late eighteenth century, a time when his sponsor, the East India Company, was rapidly expanding its interests in the Indian subcontinent. As well as painting miniature portraits of the company’s affluent employees, Smart worked for the court of the Nawab of the Carnatic, the Muslim ruler of the Carnatic region of southern India who were based in Arcot, which was close to the Company’s headquarters in Madras (now known as Chennai).
The Nawab was the sovereign ruler of the Carnatic Sultanate, which spanned across much of the south-eastern coast of the Indian peninsular and held considerable power that was often contested. Muhammad Ali Khan would become the longest ruling Nawab of the Carnatic in the sultanate’s history, serving for forty-six years from 1749 until his death. His association, indeed, dependency on the British manifested itself in his tastes and character; he was hedonistic and accrued unsustainable debts in the pursuit of luxury. This expenditure, coupled with loans he could not honour and accusations of treacherous involvement with Tipu Sultan during the Anglo-Mysore War, eventually culminated in the Carnatic Sultanate being effectively annexed by the British and managed by the East India Company.
It is known that the artist kept a detailed record of his sitters and the sums they paid; unfortunately, this book has disappeared. As Smart seems to have been nearly exclusively employed by the Nawab of Arcot during his time in India, it seems most plausible that our drawing’s subject was an immediate member of that family; Abdul Ali Khan was the son of Hafiz Muhammad Munawwar Khan Bahadur (d. 1788), who was Nawab Muhammad Ali’s favourite child. it is plausible that the Nawab commissioned Smart to paint portraits of his immediate successors; indeed, the Scottish portrait painter George Willison (1741 – 1797) painted a group portrait of the three generations together in circa 1780 and, although there is an eight year difference between the dates of both pictures, our sitter bears a strong resemblance to Abdul Ali Khan.
The art historian George C. Williamson asserted that “the noblest and most dignified miniatures of the eighteenth century were undoubtedly those painted by John Smart. Likely born in London’s Soho district, Smart was a precocious talent and entered drawing competitions as a child. By 1760, the year of his earliest extant portrait miniature, Smart had become established as a full-time miniaturist in London. Smart's clientele usually derived from London’s affluent middle class and his productive output proved a very profitable enterprise.
Notwithstanding his commercial and professional success in London, Smart decided to exploit the market for portraiture in India and obtained permission from the East India Company to travel to Madras in 1784. Like many expat British artists looking to explore the colonial market, Smart discovered that it was very difficult to receive payment for his Indian commissions. After ten years in Madras and unpaid bills totalling £1600, Smart decided to return to London, arriving in autumn 1795.