A PROFILE PORTRAIT OF AN INDIAN MAIDEN
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE AMERICAN COLLECTION
Bikaner, Rajasthan, North-Western India, ca. 1730 - 1750

Opaque pigments heightened with gold on wove paper, the vertical composition portraying a heavily bejewelled elegant Indian maiden wearing several strings of gem-studded pearl necklaces, a pearl nose ring, a chhajja floral earring, and further adornments in her black hair, covering her head with a diaphanous red shawl, holding a small golden drinking cup in her hand, the high-quality draughtsmanship and realism of this portrait in line with Mughal Provincial School productions, especially in 18th-century Awadh and Bikaner, set within black and white rules, and bright yellow and red borders, the reverse inscribed at the top in black ink Devanagari script Sri Mata Ji (Holy Mother), mounted on a white cardboard frame, the painting 28.6cm x 20.5cm, 38cm x 28cm including the mount.

Provenance: purchased from Jacob Dean Miller, previously part of the Estate of William Harwood Byrnes (d. 26 July 2016), Tampa, Florida (USA).