Live Auction 30267Testing Sale For A&L
Christie’s roundel
Lot 3

A STUDY OF AN OSTRICH

PROBABLY MUGHAL INDIA, CIRCA 1700

Closed30 October 2025

Estimate

GBP 3,000–5,000

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A STUDY OF AN OSTRICH
PROBABLY MUGHAL INDIA, CIRCA 1700
Pen and wash on paper, set within gold and red rules and laid down on gold-speckled paper, mounted on buff margins with gold stencilled illumination, the verso plain
Painting 3 1⁄8 x 1 ¾in. (7.9 x 4.4cm.); folio 11 ½ x 7 ¼ (29.3 x 18.5cm.)

Specialist note

A small nasta'liq inscription in the inner margins reads, muhal-ast, 'it is absurd'. This is perhaps an understandable reaction to an extraordinary bird not native to India.