A Malabar Giant Squirrel (Ratufa Indica) in an Almond Tree, from the Impey Album
Shaykh Zayn al-Din
(Indian)
1778
Medium/TechniquePen and ink, watercolor with gum arabic
DimensionsOverall: 63.5 × 88.6 cm (25 × 34 7/8 in.)
Image: 53.1 × 74.7 cm (20 7/8 × 29 7/16 in.)
Image: 53.1 × 74.7 cm (20 7/8 × 29 7/16 in.)
Credit LineCharles H. Bayley Picture and Painting Fund
Accession number2022.194
On View
On viewClassificationsPaintings
Inscriptionsinscribed and dated at lower left ''Mountain Rat/ Hindoostaunee Almond/ In the Collection of Lady Impey in Calcutta/ Painted by (in nasta'liq script, Zayn al-Din) Native of Patna 1778'', with further Urdu inscription in nasta'liq script at lower left ''ghua(?)/ pahari chuha/ darakht-e badam-e hindi'', the reverse bearing the stamp of Sir Elijah ImpeyProvenance1778, made for Sir Elijah Impey (b. 1732 – d. 1809) and Lady Mary Reade Impey (b. 1749 – d. 1818), Kolkata and London; May 21, 1810, Impey estate sale, Phillips, London, probably unsold or bought back by the family and passed to Elijah Impey’s daughter-in-law, Sarah Proby Impey (b. 1776 – d. 1841), London; 1855, bequeathed by Sarah Impey through her nephew, Proby Cautley (b. 1802 – d. 1871) to the Linnean Society of London; June 10, 1963, Linnean Society sale, Sotheby’s, London, lot 9, to Edwin Binney III (b. 1925 – d. 1986), San Diego. Acquired from a private collector, Switzerland, by Carlton Rochell, New York; October 27, 2021, Carlton Rochell collection sale, Sotheby’s, London, lot 13, to the MFA. (Accession date: April 20, 2022)
Unidentified artist, Italian, about 1840
