A PORTRAIT OF SHITAB RAI, NAIB DIWAN OF BIHARLATE MUGHAL, MURSHIDABAD, 1770-80 Opaque watercolor and gold on paper; inscribed on the verso Mahraja Setavroy Subah of Bahar. Image: 3 3/4 x 2 5/8 in. (9.5 x 6.7 cm); Folio: 9 x 5 3/8 in. (22.8 x 13.7 cm) Shitab Rai (d. 1773) was the Naib Diwan of Bihar for the Mughal government. Even though the Treaty of Allahabad of 1765 had transferred the revenue-raising rights to the East Indiapany, the old regime was still responsible for many other matters, especially in the city of Patna. Shitab Rai had earlier been one of the go-betweens in arranging the treaty between thepany under Robert Clive and the Mughal emperor Shah 'Alam and the Nawab of Awadh Shuja' al-Daula. He was also responsible for arranging to feed the starving in Patna during the great famine of 1770 and shamed thepany into following suit. He was later arrested and dismissed, but he died shortly thereafter. Oval portraits at this time in the Mughal provincial styles were justing into vogue, under the influence, no doubt, of European portrait miniatures. This finely-rendered portrait shows him holding the mouthpiece of his hookah and seated amid cushions in an enclosed room. It is unusual in itsposition since the room is unusually small, giving a sense of confinement to the whole portrait. The junction of ceiling and wall is marked by frills all round the room. Shitab Rai wears a white turban with a fine jewelled turban ornament ( sarpech ) attached to the front and a wide gold fabric belt over his jama as he reclines against deep-pink cushions embroidered with gold and holds a similar cushion to his body. His face and body are painted with rather heavy modelling, relieved by the way his eyes crinkle up in a smiling wee to an unseen figure to whom he is offering the mouthpiece of the hookah. Another slightly-later portrait of him in wash and light colors and dressed in similar apparel is in a Murshidabad pany' style album in the British Library (Archer 1972, no. 39xxvii, unillustrated). See two other 18th century paintings attributed to Murshidabad sold at , one in London, 29 March 2022, lot 239, and one in London, 20-28 October 2022, lot 139. Provenance: Françoise and Claude Bourelier Collection, Paris Artcurial, Paris, November 4, 2014, no. 237