Woman Playing a Zither (drawing, recto) after a European source; calligraphy (verso) by an unknown artist

Artists

Description

The recto of this album folio depicts a woman playing an Indian zither in a landscape. The top band and right side of the drawing are made on a different piece of paper. The verso of this folio holds a calligraphic composition consisting of two couplets of Persian poetry written in nasta’liq script in diagonal format. The drawing is an example of the self-consciously global aesthetic at the Mughal court. The woman is dressed in European clothing but adorned with Indian jewelry. Basawan, a leading artist in this blended mode to whom the work is attributed, most likely modeled the woman on a European engraving of a classical or biblical figure, but here, she is playing an Indian zither rather than a European instrument. Furthermore, she is seated on a Roman curule chair decorated with angels, and female figures, and an inscription written in illegible Latin script.

Dimensions

27 x 18.1 cm (10 5/8 x 7 1/8 in.)

Provenance

Louis J. Cartier, Collector. Stuart Cary Welch, Jr., Warner, New Hampshire (by 1962-2008), by inheritance; to Edith I. Welch, Warner, New Hampshire (2008-2011), gift; to Harvard Art Museums 2011.