Ornate bottle and stopper | Iris

Bagh-e Hind

Scent Translations of Mughal & Rajput Garden-Paintings

10th September 2021

Garden Scene

Khīnc kar ānkhon men apnī surmah-’i dunbālahdār

Karte paidā siḥr se nargis men sosan āp hain

Drawing wing tip eyeliner around your eyes

You are magically producing irises out of narcissi

Bahādur Shāh ‘Ẓafar’ (1775-1862)

Garden Scene

Khīnc kar ānkhon men apnī surmah-’i dunbālahdār

Karte paidā siḥr se nargis men sosan āp hain

Drawing wing tip eyeliner around your eyes

You are magically producing irises out of narcissi

Bahādur Shāh ‘Ẓafar’ (1775-1862)

Paintings

from Public Collections

Garden gathering with a Prince wearing a green jama

Emperor Jahangir with holy men in a garden

Book Production in a Garden

Girls Spraying Each Other at Holi

Prince Murad Bakhsh celebrates the spring festival

Garden gathering with a Prince wearing a green jama

Emperor Jahangir with holy men in a garden

Book Production in a Garden

Girls Spraying Each Other at Holi

Prince Murad Bakhsh celebrates the spring festival

Garden gathering with a Prince wearing a green jama

Emperor Jahangir with holy men in a garden

Book Production in a Garden

Girls Spraying Each Other at Holi

Prince Murad Bakhsh celebrates the spring festival

Bearded iris (Iris ‘Mrs. Andrist)

Bearded iris (Iris ‘Mrs. Andrist)

Bearded iris (Iris germanica)

Dalmatian iris (Iris pallida), one of the species traditionally used for the production of orris root

Dalmatian iris (Iris pallida)

Agar us khush-dahan ke lab peh dekho rang missī kā

To phir zinhār barg-i ghuncah-i sosan nah dekhoge

If you see the color of missi on the lips

of that pretty mouth,

Beware, you will never notice the petal

of the iris bud again.

Sirāj Aurangābādī (1712-1764)

White cemetery iris (Iris albicans), one of the oldest cultivated ornamental iris species. It likely originated in present-day Yemen and Saudi Arabia, and was spread widely throughout much of the medieval Muslim world, from the Iberian Peninsula to South Asia.

Dutch iris (Iris x hollandica)

Dalmatian iris (Iris pallida)

Violet flower

Kahā bulbul ne jab toṛā gul-i sosan ko gulcīn ne

Ilāhī khair kījo nīl-i rukhsār-i caman bigṛā

Said the nightingale when the flower picker plucked

the iris flower,

“Oh Lord! All right, go ahead and ruin the blue countenance

of the parterre.”

Haider ‘Alī ‘Ātish’ (1778-1847)

Saheliyon ki bari, Udaipur

Bitter orange blossoms (Citrus x aurantium), used to make orange blossom water and neroli oil

Citron (Citrus medica)

‘Arq-i bahār-i sharāb hai voh hī āj chiṛkenge āp par

Nah to bed-i mushk hai is ghaṛī nah to ke’oṛā nah gulāb hai

There is orange blossom water, that alone will they sprinkle on you today,

There is no musk willow at this time, no kewra, no rosewater is available.

Inshā’Allāh Khān ‘Inshā’ (1753-1817)

Tomb of Najaf Khan, Jor Bagh, Delhi

Vista in the garden of the mausoleum of I’timād al-dawlah, prime minister under Jahāngīr and father of the latter’s wife Nūr Jahān, in Agra

A chādar or water chute in the garden of the tomb of I’timād al-dawlah, carved so as to create a delicate ripple effect in the water

Water chute at the Tomb of Humayun, Nizamuddin, Delhi

Bearded iris (Iris ‘Mrs. Andrist)

Bearded iris (Iris ‘Mrs. Andrist)

Bearded iris (Iris germanica)

Dalmatian iris (Iris pallida), one of the species traditionally used for the production of orris root

Dalmatian iris (Iris pallida)

Agar us khush-dahan ke lab peh dekho rang missī kā

To phir zinhār barg-i ghuncah-i sosan nah dekhoge

If you see the color of missi on the lips

of that pretty mouth,

Beware, you will never notice the petal

of the iris bud again.

Sirāj Aurangābādī (1712-1764)

White cemetery iris (Iris albicans), one of the oldest cultivated ornamental iris species. It likely originated in present-day Yemen and Saudi Arabia, and was spread widely throughout much of the medieval Muslim world, from the Iberian Peninsula to South Asia.

Dutch iris (Iris x hollandica)

Dalmatian iris (Iris pallida)

Violet flower

Kahā bulbul ne jab toṛā gul-i sosan ko gulcīn ne

Ilāhī khair kījo nīl-i rukhsār-i caman bigṛā

Said the nightingale when the flower picker plucked

the iris flower,

“Oh Lord! All right, go ahead and ruin the blue countenance

of the parterre.”

Haider ‘Alī ‘Ātish’ (1778-1847)

Saheliyon ki bari, Udaipur

Bitter orange blossoms (Citrus x aurantium), used to make orange blossom water and neroli oil

Citron (Citrus medica)

‘Arq-i bahār-i sharāb hai voh hī āj chiṛkenge āp par

Nah to bed-i mushk hai is ghaṛī nah to ke’oṛā nah gulāb hai

There is orange blossom water, that alone will they sprinkle on you today,

There is no musk willow at this time, no kewra, no rosewater is available.

Inshā’Allāh Khān ‘Inshā’ (1753-1817)

Tomb of Najaf Khan, Jor Bagh, Delhi

Vista in the garden of the mausoleum of I’timād al-dawlah, prime minister under Jahāngīr and father of the latter’s wife Nūr Jahān, in Agra

A chādar or water chute in the garden of the tomb of I’timād al-dawlah, carved so as to create a delicate ripple effect in the water

Water chute at the Tomb of Humayun, Nizamuddin, Delhi

Plants & Gardens

Living History

Objects

from Public & Private Collections

Ornate bottle and stopper

Fig tree (Ficus carica), plant of the mulberry family (Moraceae) and its edible fruit. The common fig is indigenous to an area extending from Asiatic Turkey to northern India.

Marigolds blooming in Nicolas's garden in the summer

Myrrh extract beat into perfume sugar

Hemidesmus Indicus/ Indian Sarsaparilla

Grated tonka bean

Edible Perfume for Painting No. 4

Painting No. 4: Garden of Delight Edible Perfume

Painting No. 4: Garden of Delight Edible Perfume

Painting No. 4: Garden of Delight Edible Perfume

Painting No. 4: Garden of Delight Edible Perfume

Painting No. 4: Garden of Delight Edible Perfume

2st draft of the Iris-orange blossom and cedarwood perfume-translation.

Bundles of incense sticks at the workshop, Pune.

Agarwood Forest

Iris motifs on handblown glass flacon

Iris motifs on handblown glass flacon

Concept sketches for a mango-shaped flacon

Concept sketches for a mango-shaped flacon

Concept sketches for a mango-shaped flacon

Bagh- Hind: A garden in various sensual forms

Painting No. 4: Garden of Delight Edible Perfume

Incense as invitations

Incense as invitations

Incense as invitations

Synesthesia

Perfume & Flavour Translations

The Process

Notes between the perfumer & historian June - August 2021

Perfumer's note:

Nicolas and I had some back and forth on painting no. 4: 'Garden Scene' as the flowers were not obvious to me. Nicolas pointed out the red and pink poppies in the furthest register of the image and some purple-hued irises among the greenery in the forefront. The fragrance-palette