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Attributed to Kesu Das (North India, Mughal)
A Man Holding a Coconut, late 16th century
opaque watercolor on paper, heightened with gold
9 13/16 x 5 7/8 in.
Museum purchase, Karl E. Weston Memorial Fund
81.44
 
bACKGROUND INFORMATION

Attributed to Kesu Das (North India, Mughal)
A Man Holding a Coconut, late 16th century

In late 16th century northern India, there was a general shift away from using small paintings ("miniatures") as book illustrations toward incorporating single works without text into treasured albums, or "exquisite scrap-books." Akbar was one of the Mughal Empire's legendary rulers as well as a great patron of the arts. He favored portrait studies and was interested in subjects from both high and low social classes. This self-portrait by the Mughal painter Kesu Das may have been included in one of Akbar's albums. The artist, using the techniques of the Persian style, depicts himself as a humble supplicant holding an offering of a coconut.



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