A GATHERING OF COURTLY LADIES IN THE ZENANA
Possibly Delhi School, Northern India, late 19th century

Opaque pigments and gold on paper, the vertical composition depicting a gathering of ladies in their quarters (zenana), a prince spying on them from a balcony in the upper left corner, the two ladies seated on the throne to the right of the composition portrayed with a circular golden halo, possibly indicating the nayika and her sakhi (confidante), to their sides female attendants bestowing them with wine cups and golden trays, to the far left a female attendant holding a fly-whisk and pulling her shawl closer to her face in a shy and coy manner, the scene set in a palatial compound enhanced by a chahar bagh garden in the foreground, the composition encased within black rules and several concentric borders, including gold, orange, dark green, and polychrome rosettes and vegetal meanderings outlined in black on a golden ground, mounted on green cardboard, 33.5cm x 24cm excluding the mount.