A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c20.s2.127

c20.s2.127

The manuscript B.M. Add. 20734, an official present given by the titular Emperor of Delhi in 1815, contains nine pictures in the most highly-finished style, of which two may be specified. One representing the infant Shahjahān (Prince Khurram) lying in his mother's lap, surrounded by admiring attendants, is wrought with colouring so rich and decorative details so elaborate that an attempt to copy it would certainly fail. Another picture, extending across two pages (fol. 689, 690), and depicting Shahjahān seated on the peacock throne in all his glory, while Āsaf Khān offers a present of costly pearls, gives a vivid notion of the extravagant magnificence of the Mughal court in its prime.