A LADY'S PORTRAIT AT NIGHT
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE AMERICAN COLLECTION
Mughal Provincial School, possibly Faizabad or Lucknow, Awadh (Oudh), Northern India, third quarter 18th century

Opaque pigments heightened with gold on paper, the small vertical-format portrait depicting a well-dressed and heavily bejewelled courtly maiden, possibly a Mughal princess, wearing a diaphanous white anarkali with a see-through golden top over a pair of embroidered pink pajama trousers, her neck covered by several strands of pearl necklaces, on her head a golden gem-set conical headdress with a black heron feather as central aigrette, holding a golden encrusted staff, another symbol of power, in one hand and a green parakeet, a symbol of companionship, on the finger of the latter, flanked by two red poppy bouquets at her feet, set underneath a starry sky, the reverse plain, 13.7cm x 10.5cm.

Provenance: Once part of a private collection, Suzzex

Dimensions: 13.7cm x 10.5cm