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Two mallard ducks perch alongside a water body, one’s taking a brief nap while the other stands watch. The coloring of the ducks’ bodies and feathers is confusing: the napping duck has the brown feathers of a female but the green head of a male. The intention was probably to show a male mallard standing before a seated female. Maybe the artist copied another painting rather than observing actual ducks. Look carefully and you can see a hint of iridescence in their feathers, made by mixing quite a lot of gold in among the other pigments.
Two Mallard Ducks
Attributed to: Mansur (Indian, active about 1590–1625)
Mughal, about 1620
Object Place: India
Medium/Technique
Ink, color, and gold on paper
Dimensions
Height x width: 13 × 17.8 cm (5 1/8 × 7 in.)
Credit Line
Denman Waldo Ross Collection
Accession Number19.129
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAsia
ClassificationsPaintings
Two mallard ducks perch alongside a water body, one’s taking a brief nap while the other stands watch. The coloring of the ducks’ bodies and feathers is confusing: the napping duck has the brown feathers of a female but the green head of a male. The intention was probably to show a male mallard standing before a seated female. Maybe the artist copied another painting rather than observing actual ducks. Look carefully and you can see a hint of iridescence in their feathers, made by mixing quite a lot of gold in among the other pigments.
Provenance1919, given by Denman Waldo Ross (b. 1853 - d. 1935), Cambridge, MA, to the MFA. (Accession date: April 10, 1919)