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Portrait of a lady under a willow / India, Andhra Pradesh, Golconda School

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Record Details

Accession Number
1970/2.80
Title
Portrait of a lady under a willow
Artist Nationality
Indian
Object Creation Date
circa 1760
Object Creation Place
Asia (continent)
India (nation)
Andhra Pradesh (state)
Creation Place 1
Asia (continent)
Creation Place 2
India (nation)
Creation Place 3
Andhra Pradesh (state)
Style/Group/Movement
Deccani painting
Inscription
Inscription in Arabic above drawing, on old mat: No.9; 9; Illumination, a garden.
The inscription on the white paper framing the painting, in Persian by an unknown hand, can be translated as, “Rare unusual painting of Hyderabad Golkonda.”
Dimensions
22.23 cm x 13.97 cm (8 3/4 in. x 5 1/2 in.)
Century
18th century
Primary Object Classification
Painting
Primary Object Type
figure painting
Physical Description
The lady stands against a bright green background with only a hint of physical setting. There are some ground lines at her feet with springs of red flowers and a simple stylized willow tree that curves around the figure. She stands with her body turning towards her right with her head in profile. She lifts a flower up in her right hand and hangs her left arms down past her waste. She wears tight lavender colored trousers with a diaphanous skirt covering them with a gold and colored brocaded scarf hanging down the center. Her breasts appear bare, but actually the blouse is also sheer, with a darker color at the shoulders and below her breasts. She wears gold brocade slippers and wide bracelets with black pompoms and rings, necklaces, earrings and a scarf hangs from her shoulders. A gold turban with a black aigrette crowns her. The portrait is framed with some gold and black lines and placed on a simple, buff colored border. An inscription in nastaliq‘ script is above the painting.
Subject Matter
The high plateau of south central India, known as the Deccan, was under the rule of Muslim courts from the sixteenth to twentieth centuries. Painters were summoned from both Persia and the Mughal court to serve local rulers, but once ensconced in the Deccan, they worked in tandem with local artists to develop a distinctive regional style. This profile portrait of a young woman with a flower in her hand adheres to a composition frequently found in Mughal painting, but the surprising contrast of colors—the play of lavender trousers against a lime-green background—is fresh and appealing, and completely Deccani in taste. The stylized sprigs of flowers scattered in the foreground create both a shallow space cell for the figure and a decorative pattern, while the arching willow branches frame her proud visage.
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Technical Details

Image Size
731 x 1141
File Size
86 KB
Record
1970/2.80
Link to this Item
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1970-sl-2.80/1970_2.80.jpg

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https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/api/manifest/musart:1970-SL-2.80:1970_2.80.JPG

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"Portrait of a lady under a willow; India, Andhra Pradesh, Golconda School." In the digital collection University of Michigan Museum of Art. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1970-sl-2.80/1970_2.80.jpg. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed April 23, 2024.
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