The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Vertically oriented painting of three people with light skin tones holding muskets in a pavilion on the center left edge of a scene of green hills dotted with various shrubbery and animals, water and the yellow sun illuminating the sky in red and blue on the horizon. Two lions and different types of birds stop at a lake in front of the pavilion, a group of deer clustering on the hill above them.

Royal women shooting from a pavilion

c. 1810

Northwestern India, Rajasthan, Rajput Kingdom of Kota

Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
Sheet: 34.3 x 27.3 cm (13 1/2 x 10 3/4 in.); Sheet with border: 38.1 x 31.1 cm (15 x 12 1/4 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1955.48
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

On the distant horizon a European rides an elephant, while a dog runs alongside.

Description

Two magnificent lions arrived at a pond, and the male turns back, sensing that something has alerted the deer. From a hunting lodge, a princess aims her musket in their direction.

On the far banks of the pond is an abstract phallic sculpture (linga) on a spouted pedestal, indicating the sacred presence of the Hindu god Shiva. In front of the linga is an image of Shiva’s mount, the bull Nandi. The linga and bull bear traces of worship: horizontal marks in saffron, turmeric, and gold that communicate the worshiper’s religious affiliation and an inverted lotus flower. Devotion to Shiva is a prerequisite for the abundance of the land.
  • ?–1955
    (Heeramaneck Galleries, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1955–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • A related painting of Royal Women Shooting Lions is in the collection of the Royal Ontario Museum. ROM object number, 2009.10.18 collections.rom.on.ca
    Lee, Sherman. "The Decorative and the Super-Real: Two Rajasthani Miniatures." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 44, no. 8 (October 1957): 180-183. Reproduced: cover; Mentioned: p. 182 www.jstor.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 771 archive.org
    Lee, Sherman E. and George Montgomery. Rajput Painting; with an introductory essay and catalogue notes. New York: Asia House, 1960. Reproduced: pp. 46-47; plate 40
    Coates, Robert M.. "The Art Galleries Here and There." The New Yorker (December 31, 1960): 45-47. Mentioned: p. 45
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 240 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 240 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 307 archive.org
    Kathman, Barbara A. A Cleveland Bestiary. Cleveland, OH; Cleveland Museum of Art, 1981. Reproduced: p. 10; Mentioned: p. 11, 60
    Desai, Vishakha N., B. N. Goswamy, and Ainslie Thomas Embree. Life at Court: Art for India's Rulers, 16th-19th Centuries. Boston, MA: Museum of Fine Arts, 1985. Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 86-87, cat. no. 69 and detail
    Leach, Linda York. Indian Miniature Paintings and Drawings. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1986. Reproduced: cat. no. 77, pp. 197-203
    Dixit, Rita. "Ladies Who Hunt." Asian Art: the Newspaper for Collectors, Dealers, Museums and Galleries 24, i. 6 (Summer 2021): 14–15. Mentioned: p. 15; Reproduced p. 14–15
  • Temples and Worship in South Asia. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 14, 2024-March 9, 2025).
    Main Gallery Rotation (Gallery 242B). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (April 6-November 7, 2016).
    Indian Miniature Rotation (Gallery 115). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (February 20-August 18, 2004).
    Gods, Kings and Tigers: The Art of Kotah. The Asia Society Museum (April 24-July 27, 1997); HUAM, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, MA (August 30-November 2, 1997); Museum Rietberg, Zürich (November 23, 1997-February 22, 1998).
    A Cleveland Bestiary. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 15-December 16, 1981).
    Rajput Painting. The Asia Society Museum, New York, NY (organizer) (November 30, 1960-January 22, 1961).
    Art: The International Language. The Cleveland Museum of Art (October 2-November 4, 1956).
    Indian Painting 12th-20th Century. Chinese Art Society of America, New York, NY (organizer) (May 3-June 1, 1956).
    Islamic and Indian Miniature Paintings and Manuscripts. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (organizer) (December 19, 1955-February 19, 1956).
  • {{cite web|title=Royal women shooting from a pavilion|url=false|author=|year=c. 1810|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1955.48