A Miniature Scene of Music, Dancing, and Acrobatics
A painting depicting a group of elite women celebrating with a picnic along the river in a moment of festive gaiety
Scenes of Music, Dance and Acrobatics (Mid 18th Century, Muhammad Shah Period) by UnknownNational Museum - New Delhi
This miniature painting from the Muhammad Shah period in the mid 18th Century depicts a moment of festive gaiety of a celebrating group of elite women who picnic along a river.
Some swim and bathe in its flowing waters, playfully splashing water on each other...
...and one woman flings her arms holding up her veil in joyous abandon, while a woman standing next to her recoils at her sudden gesture.
A delighted voyeur is conspicuously depicted behind a thicket of bushes that shield the party.
Nearby, two women swing together, their hands enjoined balancing and stabilising their swinging motion.
On the left, a woman is attended to in her toilette by a woman scrubbing and rubbing emollients on her before her bath.
Across the river a group of acrobats display a variety of skills...
..for the entertainment of a nobleman and his young consort attended by a group of women..
..one whisking a peacock feathered morchal behind them..
..while another offers a little cup of wine to the seated couple.
Another woman on the left is depicted carrying out an equally fascinating feat - she has her body convoluted in a pose where her feet touch her mouth. Her hands carry two large pots, while she manages a way on the tightrope on her elbows and torso.
On the right, a woman is depicted in a somewhat milder and more credible feat - she walks along the tight rope carrying multiple pots on her head and hands.
The acrobats exhibit breathtaking manoeuvres on a tightrope.
One woman ‘walks’ upside down on her head on a little round tray that she skillfully moves across the tightrope..
..while her legs up in the air carry two pots.
Another woman on the left is depicted carrying out an equally fascinating feat - she has her body convoluted in a pose where her feet touch her mouth.
Her hands carry two large pots, while she manages a way on the tightrope on her elbows and torso.
On the right, a woman is depicted in a somewhat milder and more credible feat - she walks along the tight rope carrying multiple pots on her head and hands.
If this spectacle was not enough, further entertainment is provided by the means of a dancing woman.
While this entertainment is keenly watched by the group of women attending the couple..
..and who raise their fingers in gestures of awe and astonishment..
..as the prince's young consort embraced by him bashfully gazes downwards entirely missing the display.
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