The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 19, 2024

A princess on a terrace with attendants at night (recto); Calligraphy (verso)

A princess on a terrace with attendants at night (recto); Calligraphy (verso)

c. 1760
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Rolled-up textiles could be let down to enclose the space of an open pavilion.

Description

Before a terrace pavilion in the women’s quarters of a palace, a royal woman stretches to show off her figure in accordance with age-old Indian poetic imagery. Female musicians provide entertainment, and attendants hold bottles of wine at the ready. Scenes of enjoyment in sumptuous domestic spaces pervaded the artistic repertoire of the imperial court and regional centers of northern India throughout the late 1700s, following the themes set by the Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah.
  • 1950s-September 1966
    Olsen Collection, Bridgeport, CT, sold to Ralph Benkaim
    September 1966-2013
    Ralph Benkaim [1914-2001] and Catherine Glynn Benkaim [b. 1946], Beverly Hills, CA, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    2013-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Mace, Sonya Rhie, Mohsen Ashtiany, Catherine Glynn, Pedro Moura Carvalho, Marcus Fraser, and Ruby Lal. Mughal Paintings: Art and Stories: the Cleveland Museum of Art. London: D Giles Limited, 2016. Reproduced: cat. no. 82, p. 178
  • Art and Stories from Mughal India. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 31-October 23, 2016).
    Beauty in Asia. Asian Civilizations Museum, Singapore (May 3-September 23, 2007).
  • {{cite web|title=A princess on a terrace with attendants at night (recto); Calligraphy (verso)|url=false|author=|year=c. 1760|access-date=19 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2013.341