Fables of the East. Miniaturists, artists and adventurers at the court of Lahore

Written in French.

The Jean de La Fontaine Museum in Château-Thierry preserves a collection of 60 Fables illustrated in Attock (nowadays Pakistani city of Punjab, not far from Rawalpindi and Peshawar) between 1837 and 1839, by the painter Imam Bakhsh Lahori, at the instigation of Baron Félix de Conches (1798 -1887). Having held the posts of Introducer of Ambassadors and Head of Protocol at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he was able to build up collections of 19th century English and French paintings, the history of civilisations, and Near Eastern and Asian arts. He was a fervent admirer of the fabulist - whose illustrations he collected in particular between 1828 and 1840.
This set of colourful, unusual and sometimes tasty illustrations remains largely unknown to the general public and reveals an unexpected and largely unpublished aspect of Indian pictorial production.
These Fables illustrated by a painter from Lahore in the first half of the 19th century serve as a pretext for a broader evocation of the court of Lahore during the reign of Maharajah Ranjit Singh, through another group of paintings by Imam Baksh Lahori preserved in Guimet.

Ancient photographs, portraits and jewellery will complete this evocation.

Exhibition at the Musée national des arts asiatiques - Guimet from February 20th 2019 to May 27th 2019.

Written in French.
96 pages / 65 illustrations

Rmn - Grand Palais / Musée national des arts asiatiques - Guimet Co-publishing