Page 216 - Himalayan Art Macrh 19 2018 Bonhams

3103
A TRYST IN THE HAREM
MUGHAL, CIRCA 1660
Opaque watercolor and gold on paper.
Image: 6 3/4 x 4 3/8 in. (17.3 x 12.2 cm);
Folio: 12 3/4 x 8 1/2 in. (32.5 x 21.6 cm)

$50,000 - 70,000
In a relatively humble setting, the princess receives wine from her close companion or
lover who kneels before her on the bed, gazing intently. Attendants stand ready, one
by the door, others with a fan and refilling morchals, while a further prepares pan on
a grinding stone in the foreground on the other side from the musician – all common
attendants in the pictorial repertoire of the palatial tryst. Unlike the fireworks scene (lot
3101) with inlaid marble walls serving as the backdrop, here the zenana’s architecture
shows a plain thatched wall, the only trace of luxury being found in the gold-design
white door cover. Yet each woman’s sumptuous vesture suggest they remain within
the palace environs overlooking the carefully painted arboretum, perhaps in a secret
location for the tryst.

Compare with a closely related composition of the same period, formerly in the Lloyd
Collection, published in Losty, Indian Miniatures from the Lloyd Collection, London,
2011, no.4. The treatment of the faces, textiles and distinctive prominent patkas that fall
between their legs are almost identical. Losty notes that “The modeling is exceptionally
soft, seen especially in the group of the princess and her attendants, derived from earlier
artists such as Govardhan and Payag.” The red awning is secured by white ropes tied to
a pole out of sight, a feature shared by both pages. For other closely related examples
of the Shah Jahan period in the Chester Beatty Library, see Leach, Mughal and Other
Indian Paintings, London, p.476 & 501.

Provenance
Pantheon Worldwide Ltd, Hong Kong, 2016
Collection of a Private European Family

214 | BONHAMS