The album was produced for Antoine-Louis-Henri Polier de Bottens (1741–1795) between
1780 and 1787 in Lucknow (Awadh, today's Uttar Pradesh). After a stay of 30 years
in India, Polier returned to Europe, embarking from Calcutta (Kolkata) in January
1788. The floral decoration of the margins is typical of Polier's workshop in Lucknow. The
calligraphic pieces are dated 1195/1780-81, 1196/1781-82, and 1199/1784-85. They are
partly signed by contemporary calligraphers such as Muhammad ʿAli (active in Lucknow
between ca. 1760-1795). A similar album is the so called Lady Coote Album, a gift by Polier to Lady Coote
(born Susanna Hutchinson, d. 1812), the wife of Sir Eyre Coote (1726-1783).
Eighteenth-Century Indian Muraqqaʿs: Audiences – Artists – Patrons and Collectors
(Islamic Manuscripts and Books, vol. 23) / Friederike Weis (ed.). Leiden/Boston :
Brill, forthcoming. [table 7.2; f. 10a = fig. 15.18; f. 11a = fig. 15.19; f. 15b-16a = fig. 7.9] *
India’s Fabled City: The Art of Courtly Lucknow / Stephen Markel with Tushara Bindu
Gude (eds.). München et al.: DelMonico/Prestel, 2010. [f. 2a = cat.no. 130; f. 8a = cat.no. 152; f. 10a = cat.no. 132; f. 14a = cat.no.
185; f. 16a = cat.no. 131] * Taswir: Islamische Bildwelten und Moderne / Almut Sh. Bruckstein Çoruh and Hendrik
Budde (eds.). Berlin: Nicolai, 2009. [f. 13a = cat. no. IV/22] * Gadebusch, Raffael Dedo and Kristin Vartanian: Earthly Paradise and Heavenly Beauty – Courtly Arts under the Mughals. In: Indo-Asiatische Zeitschrift 10 (2006), pp. 62-71. [f. 10a = fig. 4] * Islamische Kunst in Berliner Sammlungen: 100 Jahre Museum für Islamische Kunst in
Berlin / Désirée Heiden and Jens Kröger (eds.). Berlin: Parthas 2004. [f. 6a = cat.no. 173; f. 14a = cat.no. 172] * Gadebusch, Raffael Dedo: Celestial Gardens: Mughal Miniatures from an Eighteenth Century Album. In: Orientations 31/9 (2000), pp. 69-74. [f. 1a = fig. 4; f. 3a = fig. 5; f. 10a = fig. 6; f. 11a; fig. 1; f. 14a = fig. 2] *
Gadebusch, Raffael Dedo: Das Paradies liegt in Hindustan... Die Darstellung des islamischen Gartens in der
Moghulmalerei. In: Indo-Asiatische Zeitschrift 2 (1998), pp. 64-80. [f. 3a = fig. 6; f. 10a = fig. 4; f. 11a = fig. 5] * Hauptman, William: Beckford, Brandoin, and the ‘Rajah’ : Aspects of an Eighteenth-Century Collection.
In: Apollo: International Magazine of Art 143/411 (1996), pp. 30-39. [f. 15a = fig. 11] * Petruccioli, Attilio: Die Gärten der Moghuln in Kashmir. In: Der islamische Garten: Architektur, Natur, Landschaft / Attilio Petruccioli (ed.).
Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlagsanstalt, 1995. [f. 3a = illus. on p. 265; f. 11a = illus. on p. 105] *
Weber, Rolf: Porträts und historische Darstellungen in der Miniaturensammlung des Museums für Indische
Kunst (Veröffentlichungen des Museums für Indische Kunst Berlin, vol. 6). Berlin:
Museum für Indische Kunst, 1982. [= Appendix 2, pp. 574-576; f. 6a = fig. 113; f. 7a = fig. 58; f. 8a = fig. 98; f.
12a = fig. 62; f. 15a = fig. 92] *
Brentjes, Burchard: Chane, Sultane, Emire: Der Islam vom Zusammenbruch des Timuridenreiches bis zur europäischen
Okkupation. Leipzig: Koehler und Amelang, 1974. [f. 10a = fig. 131; f. 15a = fig. 129; f. 2a = fig. 118; f. 7a = fig. 128]
acquired by the Berlin Kupferstichkabinett from the 12th Duke of Hamilton, handed
over to the Königliche Museum für Völkerkunde (Royal Museum of Ethnology) in 1891
