AN INDIAN EROTIC SCENE

Two Lovers Resting and Admiring the Starry Sky

Opaque pigments heightened with gold on wove paper, the vertical composition depicting two naked lovers resting in a tender embrace on a typical Indian low bed, the male character smoking a huqqa (water pipe) whilst the female counterpart caresses him, to the right a sleepy attendant massaging the foot of the female character and another naked courtesan briskly getting dressed and quickly leaving the scene, her smaller size possibly indicative of a younger age, in the foreground encrusted footed trays filled with drinks, essential oils and ripe fruits, in the background a typical North Indian palatial view with fountains, quadripartite gardens and marble pavilions, set within white rules and dark blue borders, mounted on a cream white cardboard frame, the folio 21.5cm x 15cm, oossibly Mankot, Jammu, Northern India, 19th century