Buraq as a Composite Animal

CultureIndian, Perhaps Delhi, or Pahari, India

Dateca. 1840

MediumOpaque and transparent pigments with gold on paper

DimensionsSheet: 6 × 7 3/4 inches (15.24 × 19.69 cm)

Credit LinePurchase: the Asian Art Acquisition Fund in memory of Laurence Sickman

Object number2026.25.2

On View

Not on view

Terms

DescriptionThe rectilinear format painting on paper depicts a large composite animal in a simple landscape, framed in a thin black painted border. The animal is a quadruped with a woman’s head, her forehead is adorned with a crescent moon. This iconography is recognizable as Buraq, the fantastic four-legged, human-faced being that carried the Prophet Muhammed on his Night Journey (Mi’raj) to the heavens from Mecca to Jerusalem. Though early descriptions imagine Buraq as a winged horse and some depictions render the being with a horse or bovine body with hooved feet, this painting follows a tradition that depicts Buraq with a leonine-inspired body .The form of Buraq, here, is created by a composite of forty-four different animals and two human figures, creatively nestled together. Gentle animals--like birds, rabbits, fish, deer, and camels, sit peacefully, in the composition, though some are under threat from attacking predators, like lions, tigers, and leopards. Interesting details include the human figure at Buraq’s chest, the clusters of birds that form her crown and toes, and the brilliant green dragon that extends from her knotted tail to bite the tiger that assaults her. This jewel-like green is different in tone than the rest of the gold and earthly palette, and is likely the result of a modern chemical dye, helping to date this work to around 1840. The landscape setting is spare; indicated by a green ground plane, defined by rows of narrow vertical lines and enlivened by a few sprigs of grass and a flowering plant at the bottom of the page, a wash of white paint marking the horizon, and a line of blue at the top indicating the sky.

The words “Kangra 1800” are written in pencil and "Jana and Jhaplijal" in purple ink, on the verso.Provenance

Provenance

John (1928-2024) and Berthe Gilmore Ford, Baltimore;

Private collection, New York, 2012-2026;

Purchased by the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art through Oliver Forge & Lynch Ltd., 2026.

Published References

Forge and Lynch. Luminaries, Myth and Fantasy in Indian and Persian Painting. Asia Week New York Catalogue, March, 2026, cat. 41

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