PaintingsIndian19th century

Female Courtier On a Rampart Smoking a Hookah, While Watching a Flight of Birds

early 19th century

Description

Standing on a white marble rampart is female figure. She wears a red-orange dress decorated with gold dots and gold trim. Her hair is partially covered with an orange and gold scarf that wraps around the top of her body and covers her back. She wears bracelets, rings, necklaces, earrings, ear ornaments, a nose ring, and a head ornament. Her hands and her feet are dyed red with henna. She looks up to the dark grey sky with black clouds, watching a flock of birds fly across the sky in a line. She holds up a long pearl necklace in her right hand to the sky. In her left, she holds onto a hookah mouthpiece. The pipe can be traced to her female attendant that holds the hookah base. The attendant wears a blue-green dress and an orange head scarf. Her finger times and soles of her feet are dyed red with henna. She wears bracelets, armlets, necklaces, earrings, ear ornaments, a nose ring, and head ornament. In the bottom left is a glimpse of the tops of trees, implying the height of the rampart. Pahari School, Kangra Style.

Classification

Paintings

Medium

Opaque watercolor and gold on paper; Pahari School, Kangra Style

Culture

Indian

Century

19th century

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Department

Department of Islamic & Later Indian Art