Set of Three Anglo-Indian Miniatures

This Mughal miniature was painted at one of the princely courts of India. It depicts a raven-haired princess in a gold-trimmed saffron-colored silk sari. Under a glowering evening sky she dawdles on a white marble terrace, with a pet fawn on a leash, before a landscape dotted with buildings nestled amongst trees beyond a river. Her hair, falling loosely about her shoulders, rather than carefully dressed on her head, indicates that she is a maiden. The overall mood is one of expectancy. Perhaps walking a pet and catching an evening breeze is a pretext to escape palace scrutiny for a lovers’ assignation. In Mughal India tender sentiments were a bridge to the erotic – and if this seems contradictory, so too is the balance of realism and caricature, and naturalism with the schematic. Both are hallmarks of miniatures painted in this place and time. The earliest Mughal Indian miniatures date to the 16th century. They were inspired by those painted at the refined Moslem courts of the neighboring Persian empire. They incorporated figures in spite of the Moslem faith’s proscription against depicting the human form. Such was the nature of sophisticated courtly life everywhere that beauty and pleasure trumped systems of morality. This was no less the case at the provincial Indian courts, where our miniature, marked by a charming pictorial naiveté, was most likely painted. Yet the artist was undeniably accomplished. His command of perspective, introduced by Jesuit missionaries in the 17th century, is seen in the landscape, which rolls back to a distant horizon, contrary to the flat two-dimensional ones following Indian-painting traditions. And if Mughal artists were influenced by Western art, the compliment was returned by Rembrandt and Sir Joshua Reynolds, among others, who collected Indian miniatures (as did, perhaps, Giovanni Bellini who painted in Mughal style the famous miniature of a Persian man...

Enchanting vintage Anglo Indian Pishhwai gouache painting on cloth mounted on board, steeped in alagorical context, depicting Krishna dancing with villagers in a background of birds ...

Vintage pair of Anglo Indian watercolors depicting men on horseback decorated with gold leaf floral and geometric designs. Presented in wood frames with gold leaf under glass.

A set of antique late 19th-century Indian minitature paintings. Watercolor on paper. Company school. A total of 12 items. The artworks depict scenes of everyday life. White mat, buck...

Embark on a journey through time with this extraordinary antique Anglo-Indian Grand Tour Era Miniature Taj Mahal Painting, nestled within a beautifu...

Transporting oil painting on canvas of an elephant dressed in festive attire in a parade with figures and children.Signed Charles Baskerville 1966 and presented in an older Italian ...

18th Century Framed Set of Three Plumbago Portrait Miniatures - Style of Nathaniel Hone (1718 -1784) , Half Monochrome portraits of three members of the Hughes family, possibly sist...

A finely rendered opaque watercolor on wasli depicting a seated scholar reading beneath a floral border, in subdued tones with touches of gold. Mughal. Framed under glass. OS: 20 ...

Indian, 18th or early 19th century. This exquisite 18th-century Mughal School miniature painting is a masterful example of the rich artistic tradition that flourished under the Mugh...

This very large and well executed painting on a woven fabric is unsigned and likely done by a European artist in the late 19th century or early 20th century. The painting is done in ...