Description:

Lot 35. A MAIDEN RECLINING LANGUROUSLY ON A BED ON A TERRACE, RECEIVING A FOOT MASSAGE WITH SEVERAL FEMALE ATTENDANTS, PERHAPS AN ILLUSTRATION TO THE STORY OF MADHAVANALA AND KAMAKANDALA
Early 19th Century, North India

Executed in opaque pigments on paper, the scene depicts a maiden resting on a red-cushioned bed beneath a domed canopy adorned with concentric bands of red, yellow, and green. She reclines on her side, her head supported by one hand, while an attendant kneels at her feet administering a massage. Other female attendants stand or kneel around the bed, holding flywhisks, vessels, and fans. The terrace floor is patterned with stylised floral motifs, with a small black dog and scattered cushions enhancing the domestic setting. Behind the white parapet wall rises a dense backdrop of lush green foliage, over which looms a sky rendered in bands of grey and blue. A narrow inner border frames the composition, enclosed within a wide, unembellished margin of warm-toned paper with irregular, deckled edges showing age-related wear.

The reverse consists of a plain, unpainted sheet of fibrous paper with a faint rectangular impression corresponding to the painted area on the recto.

Such terrace scenes, often associated with courtly romance or poetic narrative cycles, depict intimate moments of leisure attended by female companions and servants, reflecting ideals of refinement and cultivated repose in North Indian painting of the period.

Measurements: 29 x 22cm

Folio: 25 x 19cm

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December 16, 2025 1:00 PM GMT
London, United Kingdom

PLAKAS

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