A nobleman and attendants with a Yogi, India, Kangra, circa 1820

The present painting was once part of the collection of Mr. Gordon H. Mattison, a former Foreign Service officer with deep interest and experience in Middle Eastern affairs. Born in Washington in 1915, Mr. Mattison grew up in India where his father was a missionary. He began his career in the US Foreign Service in 1937. He traveled widely in the Middle East - to Iraq and Syria - and by the late 1940s, he was the Chief of the State Department's Division of Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs. In the 1950s, Mr. Mattison was posted in US Embassies in Cairo and Tehran. He capped his career serving as the US Consul General in Calcutta and Kathmandu, Nepal. He passed away in 1999 at the age of 84.