Portrait of a Princess

The painting above is an 18 th Century Indian miniature painting entitled Portrait of a Princess created by the famous artist Sital Das. Sital Das was a famous artist who worked between 1780-1782 in Faizabad and Lucknow during the late 18 th Century. The painting displays the sophisticated style of painting used in the late Provincial Mughal Period. This time meant that many famous artists left the Mughal court and moved to more wealthy regions. The image shows a very high ranking aristocrat, who we can assume is a princess, sitting on a beautiful ornate chair made from wood. She sits on a large white marble terrace overlooking a wide river area. She is shown in profile with a pipe of a detailed gold hookah (huqqa). The hookah is placed on the ground of the terrace and has some small dishes and drinks around it. She is dressed in beautiful flowing robes to show that she is very high up in society. She wears lots of jewellery and a small crown made from gold. There are 3 women in the background, these could be servants or friends to the princess. They wear beautiful flowing robes and have veils over their heads. They are shown in a very elegant pose. Analysis of the work of Sital Das has shown that he had his own unique style to painting. In important books, such as Linda York Leach’s book Mughal and Other Indian Paintings from the Chester Beatty Library (1995, Vol. II) it has been shown that Sital Das painted his royal figures in a very unique way. His figures are usually quite tall, with flowing fabrics and almond shaped eyes. Research into the late Mughal and Awadhi periods by PhD students such as Dr. Malini Roy has shown that the artists in Sital Das’ circle, including the famous Mihr Chand often incorporated traditional Mughal styles to please the wealthy aristocrats in the region and to please famous East India Company collectors such as Richard Johnson.