The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Women Enjoying the River at the Forest’s Edge (recto)

c. 1765

style of Hunhar II

(Indian, active mid-1700s)
India, Murshidabad or Lucknow, Mughal, 18th century
Gum tempera and gold on paper
Page: 33.1 x 24.9 cm (13 1/16 x 9 13/16 in.)
Gift in honor of Madeline Neves Clapp; Gift of Mrs. Henry White Cannon by exchange; Bequest of Louise T. Cooper; Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund; From the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection 2013.351.a
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Mangoes are in varying stages of ripeness, from green to bright orange-yellow.

Description

The image of young women at play, in association with water and the fruiting of trees, such as this mango, has been used in Indian art to signal the idea of prosperity and abundance. Rain clouds approach that will nourish the land. The pairs of women on the banks sample perfumes, and in front of them bowls made of leaves appear to hold jasmine flowers for adorning the hair. One woman smokes a hookah and looks on as two companions frolic in the rivulet. The palace’s white marble buildings are barely indicated in the far distance.
  • before 1874
    Henry Chaplin, MP, 1st Visc. Chaplin [1849–1923], London and Lincolnshire, given to Admiral Hon. Henry John Rous
    1874–1877
    Admiral Hon. Henry John Rous [1795–1877], London and Cambridgeshire
    July 10, 1968
    (Sotheby’s, London, Western and Oriental Manuscripts, 10 July 1968, lot 102, sold to Ralph Benkaim)
    1968-2013
    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
  • Cleveland Museum of Art. Museum Masters: 2016-17 Companion Guide. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2016. Reproduced: P. 66
    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. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 93, p. 272
  • Art and Stories from Mughal India. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 31-October 23, 2016).
  • {{cite web|title=Women Enjoying the River at the Forest’s Edge (recto)|url=false|author=Hunhar II|year=c. 1765|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2013.351.a