The Polier albums are the albums, mostly of Indian paintings and calligraphy, that Antoine Polier (1741–1795), a Swiss architect and art collector active in Mughal India, numbered as volumes of his own collection, together with albums made on his behalf as gifts for his European friends. Polier commissioned many of these albums, notably from a workshop run by Mihr Chand, an Indian miniature painter, from onwards. When Polier returned to his hometown of Lausanne, Switzerland, in September 1788, he brought more than 30 albums of Indian paintings with him. Of these, 25 albums were personally numbered by Polier. 21 of these 25 albums are known to be extant, with 11 of them in Berlin museums and two dispersed.

Polier is considered an "unparalleled figure" among collectors of muraqqas – albums with paintings and calligraphy – during the second half of the 18th century. Today, individual folios of his albums fetch high auction prices, with a single folio sold for at Christie's in 2025 (Colonel Polier's nautch), a folio from the dispersed album known as Phillipps Ms 6730.

The Polier albums have to be distinguished from the unillustrated Indian manuscripts of Polier, which also carry a catalogued Polier number and were mainly purchased by Edward Ephraim Pote (1750–1832). They form the Pote Collection at King's College, Cambridge, and Eton College, both now on long-term deposit at the Cambridge University Library.

Primary textual sources two primary textual sources for the number of Polier albums are known: A letter dated 20 March 1789 of (1733–1790), a Swiss painter, to William Beckford (1760–1844), a British writer. According to this letter, Polier kept 35 albums in his Lausanne home. An undated notice with a sale offer of 38 volumes of Indian paintings () in French, now archived in the Bibliothèque nationale de France, is the second primary source. This notice lists the 25 numbered albums with short descriptions and furthermore mentions 13 volumes with images of natural history ().

Numbered Polier albums The 25 numbered Polier albums are listed below. Friederike Weis, a German scholar, reconstructed the numbering of these volumes using three types of evidence: On four albums (I. 4596 [Vol. 3], I. 4599 [Vol. 7], 1920,0917,0.133–153 [Vol. 12] and Indian Drawings 12 [Vol. 14]) the numbering is extant in Polier's own hand, one album (I. 4594 [Vol. 9]) carries a label on the back cover and the rest of the numbering is reconstructed using the undated French sale notice. Polier's volume no. (muraqqa)ShelfmarkInstitutionTitle inscribed by PolierExample leafNumber of foliosDimensionsDedication and signed paintingsRef.1? (muraqqa)I. 4593Museum of Islamic Art, Berlin—50 (of originally 60 folios?)42.5 × 28.5 cmDedication on inner back cover.2? (muraqqa)1920,0917,0.76–111 (formerly Add. 23,610)British Museum, London—26 (of originally 60?)42.6 × 29.0 cmDedication on inner back cover.3 (muraqqa)I. 4596Museum of Islamic Art, BerlinVolume troisieme3050.0 × 36.5 cmDedicatory shamsa on fol. 30v. Fols. 18r and 29r are signed by Mihr Chand.4Missing. Described in the undated French notice as a grand in/4° with about 50 ancient paintings of the same nature as volumes 1 and 2. Friederike Weis suggests that the album dispersed at Sotheby's on 27 November 1974 (lots 723–769 [Phillipps Ms 6730]) may be an assembly of remains of volume 4.5 (muraqqa)I. 4601 and K 3431Museum of Islamic Art, Berlin; Louvre, Paris——50 (49 + 1)28.4 × 20.0 cm—6? (muraqqa)I. 4598Museum of Islamic Art, Berlin—4040.5 × 28.5 cmDedicatory shamsa on fol. 40v.7 (muraqqa)I. 4599Museum of Islamic Art, BerlinVolume septieme—4040.5 × 28.0 cmDedicatory shamsa on fol. 40v.8? (muraqqa)Indian Drawings 13John Rylands Research Institute and Library, Manchester——14 (fragment of 40?)40.5 × 28.5 cmDedicatory shamsa on fol. 9r. Fols. 3v and 4v are signed by Mihr Chand.9 (muraqqa)I. 4594Museum of Islamic Art, Berlin"No. 9." (on the back cover)4041.5 × 28.5 cmDedicatory shamsa on fol. 40v. Fols. 1v, 2r, 6r, 8r, 9r, 10r, 16r, 18r, 21r, 25r, 27r, 28r, 30r, 32r, 38r, 39v and 40r signed by Mihr Chand; fol. 36r signed by Dalchand; fol. 24r signed by Shivadas.10? (muraqqa)I. 4595Museum of Islamic Art, Berlin—36 (of originally 40?)40.0 × 28.0 cmDedicatory shamsa on fol. 36v. Fols. 2r, 22r and 35r signed by Mihr Chand.11 or 15? (muraqqa)I. 4597Museum of Islamic Art, Berlin——4040.0 × 28.0 cmEmpty shamsa on fol. 40v.11 or 15? (muraqqa)Sotheby's, London, 12 December 1966, lots 1–34Dispersed, present location unknown——34 (of originally 40?) 37 × 26.5 cm—12 (muraqqa)1920,0917,0.133–153 (formerly Add. 23,609)British Museum, LondonVolume douzieme—21 (of originally 40)40.7 × 29.6 cm—13Lost. Described in the undated French notice as eighteen folio miniatures forming part of a set of Ragamala paintings.14 (muraqqa)Indian Drawings 12John Rylands Research Institute and Library, ManchesterVolume quatorsieme—42 (of originally 40)40.5 × 28.4 cm—16I 5062Museum of Asian Art, BerlinVolume seizième, Musique — nommé Raajmala3631 × 23.1 cm—17 (muraqqa)I 5063Museum of Asian Art, BerlinGenialogie [généalogie] des Empereurs20 (of originally 21)39.8 × 28.2 cmDedicatory shamsa on fol. 22v. Fol. 14v is ascribed to Mihr Chand.18Lost. Described in the undated French notice together with volume 19, as a volume containing a collection of the finest and most sought-after examples of Persian and Arabic calligraphy by the greatest masters, assembled with the utmost care.19Lost. Described in the undated French notice together with volume 18, as a volume containing a collection of the finest and most sought-after examples of Persian and Arabic calligraphy by the greatest masters, assembled with the utmost care.20Missing. Described in the undated French notice as an in/4° long volume together with volumes 21 and 22 as containing a collection of full-length portraits from the life of Indian soldiers, sepoys and officers, male and female servants, craftsmen in their workshops, fakirs of various kinds, merchants, labourers and other common folk, as well as Indian palanquins, chariots and carriages, standards, etc.21?583133iWellcome Collection, London3126.2 × 33.7 cm—22?583226iWellcome Collection, London3026.2 × 33.8 cm—23 (muraqqa)I 5005Museum of Asian Art, Berlin—1646.0 × 62.5 cmEmpty shamsa on fol. 16v.24Or 4769British Library, LondonDrawings of Hindou Mythology, vol. 1—3234.5 × 26 cm—25Or 4770British Library, LondonDrawings of Hindou Mythology, vol. 2—3234.5 × 26 cm—Unknown (perhaps an assembly of the missing volume 4 with calligraphy from volumes 18 and 19)Sotheby's, London, 27 November 1974, lots 723–769 (Phillipps Ms 6730)Dispersed; present location unknown—4639.6 × 29.0 cmEmpty shamsa on the verso of lot 723. Lots 723 and 757 signed by Mihr Chand.

Other Polier albums Three further albums were assembled on behalf of Polier for his European friends between 1784 and 1787. Name or ShelfmarkInstitutionRecipientExample leafNumber of foliosDimensionsRef.MSL/1858/4765National Art Library (Victoria and Albert Museum), LondonWilliam Jones; came into Warren Hastings' collection in 1784—29 (as catalogued)—Persian MS 10John Rylands Research Institute and Library, ManchesterWilliam Jones, as a replacement for MSL/1858/4765—40342 × 262 mmLady Coote AlbumFine Arts Museums of San Francisco (1982.2.70.1 ff.); Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S. (1953.48–50); San Diego Museum of Art (1990.414).Susanna Coote (born Susanna Hutchinson, d. 1812), wife of Eyre Coote12 (originally) 45 × 61 cm

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