Posthumous portrait of the Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah (reigned 1719-1748) holding a falcon (recto), 1764. Muhammad Rizavi Hindi (Indian, active mid-1700s). Opaque watercolor, ink, and gold on paper (recto); painting only: 14.4 x 10.3 cm (5 11/16 x 4 1/16 in.); page: 28 x 23.8 cm (11 x 9 3/8 in.). Emperor Muhammad Shah, who reigned from 1719 to 1748, was known as Rangila,” which means the Colorful.” The innovative use of a black background sharply sets off the chartreuse green of his jama and the pearls of his adornments and bolster. On his left thumb he wears an archer’s ring, and a stabbing dagger is tucked into his bejeweled belt. Even his trained hunting falcon has a ruby necklace. In this formal posthumous portrait, the master artist conveys a heightened realism that emerges effortlessly from elegant contour lines and bold use of color. The work was part of an album of paintings collected in India before 1811 by a Scottish politician who worked for the British East India Compa