# Sheikh Zainuddin
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{{Short description|Indian artist}}
{{Infobox artist
| name = Sheikh Zainuddin
| image = Saras by Sheikh Zainuddin.jpg
| caption = ''[Saras](/source/Sarus_crane)'' by Zainuddin
| native_name =
| native_name_lang = bn
| birth_date =
| birth_place = [Patna](/source/Patna), [Bihar](/source/Bihar), [Company raj](/source/Company_raj)
| death_date =
| death_place =
| resting_place =
| resting_place_coordinates =
| education =
| alma_mater =
| known_for = Illustrations of fauna and flora
| notable_works =
| style =
| movement =
| patrons = [Elijah Impey](/source/Elijah_Impey)
}}
'''Sheikh Zainuddin''' or '''Shaikh Zain-al-Din''' ({{floruit|1777–1782}}) was an Indian artist who moved from [Patna](/source/Patna) to Calcutta and worked for [patronage](/source/patronage) in [British Raj](/source/British_Raj).[{{Cite Banglapedia|article=Zainuddin,_Sheikh|author=Nazma Khan Majlis}}] His works blending [Mughal](/source/Mughal_painting) and Western painting techniques belonged to the [Company style](/source/Company_style) of painting.[{{cite news |last1=Verma |first1=Rahul |title=Rediscovering India's Forgotten Masterpieces |url=http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20200207-rediscovering-indias-forgotten-masterpieces |accessdate=11 February 2020 |publisher=BBC |date=11 February 2020}}]
== Career ==
In the late eighteenth century, he worked under [Mary Impey](/source/Mary_Impey), the wife of Sir [Elijah Impey](/source/Elijah_Impey), Chief Justice of [Calcutta Supreme Court](/source/Supreme_Court_of_Judicature_at_Fort_William).[{{Cite web|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/awe-inspiring-wildlife-drawings-shaikh-zain-uddin-180973502/|title=The Awe-Inspiring Wildlife Drawings of Shaikh Zain ud-Din|last=Crawford|first=Amy|website=Smithsonian Magazine|language=en|access-date=2020-01-06}}]
From 1777 to 1782, Zainuddin worked on Whiteman art paper manufactured in England for his transparent [watercolor](/source/Watercolor_painting) paintings. For his tinted drawings and sketches, he employed meticulous calligraphic strokes reminiscent of the works of Mughal Court artist [Ustad Mansur](/source/Ustad_Mansur). The [Ashmolean Museum](/source/Ashmolean_Museum) has some of his art.{{r|Banglapedia}}
File:Orange-headed_thrush_1778.jpg|[Orange-headed thrush](/source/Orange-headed_thrush) and an ''[Acherontia](/source/Acherontia_(moth))'' moth on a ''[Bauhinia](/source/Bauhinia)''
File:A_macaboo_thrush_shaykh_zayn_al-din_calcutta_india_1782.jpg|[Chestnut-tailed starling](/source/Chestnut-tailed_starling) on a ''[Clerodendrum](/source/Clerodendrum)'' sp.
File:Female Trogon shaykh zayn al-din calcutta india 1779.jpg|''[Harpactes erythrocephalus](/source/Harpactes_erythrocephalus)'' female on a melastome
File:Psilopogon zeylanica Zaynuddin.jpg|''[Psilopogon zeylanicus](/source/Psilopogon_zeylanicus)'' on a ''Polyalthia''
File:Anastomus_Zayn_Al_Din.jpg|''[Anastomus oscitans](/source/Anastomus_oscitans)'' with snail
File:LadyImpeyEphippiorhynchus.jpg|[Black-necked stork](/source/Black-necked_stork)
File:Sheikh_Zain_ud-Din_-_Indian_Roller_on_Sandalwood.jpg [Indian Roller](/source/Indian_Roller)
== Exhibitions ==
Zainuddin's work was first exhibited in 2016 at the [Royal Albert Memorial Museum](/source/Royal_Albert_Memorial_Museum) in Exeter, as part of the [https://rammuseum.org.uk/past-exhibitions/flower-power-botanical-illustrations-form-indian/ Flower Power exhibition]. At that point his name, written in an old hand-writing was taken to be "Jack Joyenadey." Since then, researchers working together with the museum staff, have deciphered his name.[{{Cite web|url=https://rammuseum.org.uk/indian-artists-revisited/|title = Indian artists revisited|date = 5 November 2018}}] The updated exhibition is [https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/IAJCaAVabfooLw online].
Subsequently, Zainuddin's work was exhibited in 2019 at [London's](/source/London) [Wallace Collection](/source/Wallace_Collection), along with that of 17 other artists commissioned by the British East India Company. The director of the Wallace Collection, Xavier Bray, told ''[Smithsonian](/source/Smithsonian_(magazine))'' that in Zainuddin's paintings, "Everything is incredibly precise and beautifully observant."