ALWAR OR DELHI, INDIA, CIRCA 1820-30

Here the young lady, fresh from bathing, stands gracefully on a small platform, nude, save for a translucent shawl with gold-embroidered borders, and retrieving her jewellery that is heaped on a circular table to her right. By contrast to the other two paintings from this group, lots 13 and 15, the female is diminutive within the interior, drawing inspiration from neoclassical design yet infused with regional opulence. The Corinthian column provides a dramatic visual punctuation in the foreground, bisecting the large brass water basin positioned directly in front of the low marble platform. An added touch of opulence includes a gold mantle clock framed within a faux fireplace and the green door is open, unlike in lots 13 and 15, to reveal further lavish furnishings of a golden chair and European style carpet. See lot 13 for further discussion of the genre of painting.