DELHI OR LUCKNOW, INDIA, CIRCA 1800

This striking painting presents a woman, richly adorned in gold and gem-set jewellery, seated on a terrace and smoking a hookah. She is identified in the description as a ‘dancing girl’ but here we find her in a moment of calm repose. This creates a certain intimacy to the painting. While we usually see dancing girls depicted in their eponymic roles, the painter grants us a glimpse into her moment of private reprieve. Despite the more private nature of the painting, she is still lavishly adorned with emeralds set into her choker, necklace and jhumkah, complementing the green material of her shawl. The inscription reading ‘grass-green’ is perhaps an allusion to the vibrant colour of her shawl which is decorated with a detailed boteh motif to the hem. Even the hookah she smokes has pearls strung to the mouthpiece and gold inlay to the base and pipe. This is more than just a pastime, it is “artfully designed as a status symbol” (Habighorst 2007, p.44). The enamel work to the top and the gold throughout denotes an elevated status, eschewing more simplistic huqqas.

The woman in our painting shares similar facial features with the dancing girls in the British Library collection (acc.no.Add.Or.1 and Add.Or.2). The women have pale features, their hair is pulled back in a tight hairstyle and they have sharply delineated profiles. These two large scale portraits are dated circa 1820, located in Delhi and its environs. Our portrait allows us to focus on just one of the dancing girls in further detail.