Matthew Thomas
Senior Specialist
Lot 169
A princess with female musicians and attendants on a riverside terrace at night Lucknow, c. 1760-1780
6 October 2015, 14:00 BST
London, New Bond StreetSold for £4,750 inc. premium
Looking for a similar item?
Our Islamic and Indian Art specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.
Find your local specialistAsk about this lot
A princess with female musicians and attendants on a riverside terrace at night
Lucknow, c. 1760-1780
Lucknow, c. 1760-1780
gouache and gold on paper, laid down on an 18th Century Lucknow album page with gilt-decorated borders, nasta'liq inscription in red ink in right-hand outer border, verso a leaf from a manuscript containing ghazals of Jami written in nasta'liq script in two columns within cloudbands, blue floral inner border, pink and white stencilled outer border
painting 195 x 147 mm.; album page 353 x 225 mm.
painting 195 x 147 mm.; album page 353 x 225 mm.
Footnotes
Provenance
Private UK collection.
The nasta'liq inscription in the border reads majles-e tasvirat-e chandeni, 'pictures of a moonlight gathering'.
The rising generation of Awadhi artists in this period were influenced by concepts introduced by established artists such as Nidha Mal and Mir Kalan Khan. Lavish terrace scenes and colour palettes including a brilliant white were seen in works by Nidha Mal's contemporaries. In particular, Awadhi artists showed a preference for painting night time terrace scenes depicting women celebrating festivals, playing games and music. For futher discussion and examples, see S. Markel, The Art of Courtly Lucknow, Los Angeles, 2011, pp.171-173.