-
A group of dancing-girls and musicians performing beneath a canopy
unknown - Enlarge image
A group of dancing-girls and musicians performing beneath a canopy
- Object:
Painting
- Place of origin:
Delhi, India (made)
- Date:
ca. 1830 (painted)
- Artist/Maker:
unknown (production)
- Materials and Techniques:
Gouache on paper
- Museum number:
03525(IS)
- Gallery location:
In Storage
This Company Painting depicts a group of dancing-girls and musicians performing before an audience underneath a canopy on a terrace, and was made in Delhi in about 1830. The three dancing-girls are ranged in front of a group of four musicians, two of whom hold sarangis (stringed instruments played with bows like European viols), while another holds a pair of small cymbals, and the fourth plays a tabla (drum). Typical of Company Painting is the combination of realistic perspective and shading--the sky with clouds, the canopy shown in correct perspective--and features that seem unnatural to western eyes, such as the way in which the carpet is laid out so that it is viewed from the top in order to display the pattern to its best advantage.
