'Princess and Attendant in a Trompe l'Oeil Window' Canvas Cloth Print, c.1765

Provenance

A golden shade rolls up to reveal a princess seated on a terrace, her attendant beside her, the wooded grounds of the palace extending behind them. The composition inverts a familiar convention: where the jharokha window usually places the viewer outside looking in at a royal figure, here the viewer stands inside the palace, looking out at the women on the terrace beyond. The carpet draped over the sill echoes the imperial balcony, but the direction of looking has turned.

The painting is attributed to Aqil Khan, active in the mid-18th century, and comes from the court at Lucknow — one of the last great centres of Mughal court culture in northern India. By the mid-18th century the central Mughal empire had fragmented, and its successor courts at Lucknow and elsewhere became centres of refined painting that extended the Mughal idiom in new directions.

The taste for flowering plants on a plain ground, visible in the carpet and textiles, was a fashion introduced at the Mughal court in the 17th century and derived from European botanical studies brought to India by merchants and diplomats. By the time this painting was made, that influence had been entirely absorbed and transformed into something unmistakably Indian.

Disclaimer:

• The frames shown are for display purposes only and are not included with the artwork.
• As these are made-to-order designer pieces, expect minor colour variations from the displayed artwork.