A MINIATURE PAINTING DEPICTING A SEATED LADY SMOKING A HUQQA
Pahari Provincial school, Pahari Hills, Northern India, mid to late 19th century

Opaque pigments heightened with gold on wove paper, the vertical composition portraying a young fair-skinned Indian maiden seated on the floor, resting against a large pink bolster and smoking a huqqa on a palatial terrace, the mountainous background showing two marble palatial complexes in the distance, set within black and white rules, and bright red borders, 21.5cm x 14.3cm.