NUDE FEMALE FIGURES INSIDE THE ZENANA
INDIA, RAJASTHAN, KOTAH, EARLY 18TH CENTURY
£5,040
Auction: 11 December 2024 from 10:00 GMT
Description
pen, ink and opaque watercolour on paper, depicting two nude girls within an elaborate palace setting, mounted, glazed and framed; this lot includes a drawing, ink, pencil and gouache on paper, depicting a young maiden holding a flower facing to the left, unframed
Dimensions
17.5cm x 10.5cm
Provenance
Formerly, the Stuart Cary Welch Collection (1928-2008).
Sotheby’s, London, Cary Welch Collection, Part II, 31 May 2011, lot 33.
Exhibited:
Loaned anonymously to the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, 1983, accession no. 200.1983.
Footnote
This delicate and rather unusual drawing brings to prominence the two nude girls. They are the only part of the composition that are painted, so their pink complexions and hennaed hands stand out against the extravagant palace architecture. The girl at the centre of the picture is stretching with her arms above her head. The girl below is seated in a chair. Their naked bodies and casual postures suggest that they are relaxing within the most private area of the zenana.