{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1808224"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1808224/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2025PK4923/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2025PK4923/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2025PK4923","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PK5129","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O1808224/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1808224","accessionNumber":"E.995-2025","objectType":"Miniature","titles":[{"title":"Abdul Ali Khan","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"In 1787, John Smart was working in India for Muhammad Ali Khan, Nawab of the Carnatic (1717-1795), when he finished this portrait, likely depicting the Nawab’s grandson, Abdul Ali Khan. This portrait drawing closely matches Smart’s painted miniature on ivory now in the Fitzwilliam Museum. It is executed with Smart’s typical finesse, portraying Abdul Ali Khan with subtle highlights and delicate gold touches that capture the richness of his dress. The drawing is one of a very few portraits of Indian children by Smart, another being the portrait of Abdul Khaliq Sultan (E.996-2025), son of Tipu Sultan, which was acquired by the V&A alongside this miniature from the same collection.\r\n\r\nSmart’s employment at the courts in southern India was not without difficulties: the Nawab of Arcot, for example, was known to delay or withhold payment, an anti-colonial tactic that led many artists to seek compensation through the East India Company via a tankhwah claim, and often saw them return to Britain still unpaid. Despite this, Smart completed several portraits for the Nawab of the Carnatic, including another portrait of Muhammad Ali Khan painted the same year as this drawing of his grandson also in the V&A collection (P.13-1930).","physicalDescription":"Portrait of Abdul Ali Khan in pencil with watercolour and white heightening on tinted paper in a metal locket.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"John Smart","id":"A2394"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28674"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"watercolour","id":"AAT15045"},{"text":"pencil","id":"x30347"}],"techniques":[{"text":"drawing","id":"x32498"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Pencil, watercolour, and white heightening on tinted paper","categories":[{"text":"Miniatures","id":"THES269968"},{"text":"Children and childhood","id":"THES48980"},{"text":"Portraits","id":"THES48906"},{"text":"Colonialism and empire","id":"THES253004"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"PDP","id":"THES48595"},"images":["2025PK4923","2025PK5129"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"CNPT","id":"THES49203"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"miniature","id":"AAT33936"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"No","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Chennai","id":"x31964"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1787","earliest":"1787-01-01","latest":"1787-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[{"object":{"text":"P.13-1930","id":"O82063"},"association":""},{"object":{"text":"104-1888","id":"O1109664"},"association":""},{"object":{"text":"E.996-2025","id":"O1808225"},"association":""}],"creditLine":"Purchased with funds from the Hugh Phillips Bequest","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"75","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"55","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"JS 1787","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":""}],"objectHistory":"Purchased from Weiss Gallery in 2025. Previously Lt.-Col Hubert Oliver Browne-Mason (1872-1930), Royal Army Medical Corps, British Indian Army, Cheltenham; thence by descent, until 2023, when bequeathed to a private collection, England, and via probate to Hannam's Auctioneers, Selborne, on 3 May 2023, lot 802, where purchased by Weiss Gallery.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Portrait miniature, Abdul Ali Khan, grandson of Muhammad Ali Khan (1717- 1795), Nawab of the Carnatic, by John Smart, 1787, pencil, watercolour,  and white heightening on tinted paper.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"Damiët Schneeweisz, Rosalind McKever, and Adriana Concin. <i>The Portrait Miniature: A New History</i>. London: Thames & Hudson and the V&A, 2026.","id":"AUTH411474"},"details":"","free":""}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[{"text":"Abdul Ali Khan","id":"AUTH411473"}],"associatedPerson":[{"text":"Muhammad Ali Khan Nawab of Arcot and the Carnatic (Nawab)","id":"N2634"}],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["E.995-2025"],"accessionNumberNum":"995","accessionNumberPrefix":"E","accessionYear":2025,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-04-08","recordCreationDate":"2025-08-27","availableToBook":false}}