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 seated outdoors on an elaborately decorated chair, as she sings and plays the zither. Clad in European garments, her facial features and jewelry are clearly Indian, as is the pillow on which she rests her foot. The chair is ornamented with figures in European garb, some of which suggest Christian themes. A bushy-tailed animal, perhaps a cat, crouches just behind the chair. The landscape features architecture, rocky outcroppings, and trees of quite different scale. 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.

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.