Explore remarkable studies of Indian and exotic birds commissioned by Lady Impey around 1780.
This large, mainly fruit-eating Hornbill is found in forests in India and Nepal. In this early commission for Lady Impey, Shaikh Zain ud-Din depicts the bird perched on a tree stump entwined by a flowering creeper, in the manner of European natural history illustrations that he may have seen in the Impeys’ library, such as the Histoire naturelle (1749-1788) of the Comte de Buffon. Unusually he also includes a shadow effect in the foreground as a gesture to occidental naturalism. An inscription describes Zain ud-Din as ‘Native of Patna’, a major centre in Bihar where he may have previously worked.
Objects are sometimes moved to a different location. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis. Contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular object on display, or would like to arrange an appointment to see an object in our reserve collections.
Objects from past exhibitions may have now returned to our stores or a lender. Click into an individual object record to confirm whether or not an object is currently on display. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis, so please contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular Eastern Art object.
© 2013 University of Oxford - Ashmolean Museum