A princess seated on a throne beneath a tree, with two female attendants, attributable to Payag, Mughal, circa 1650

gouache heightened with gold on paper, laid down on an album page with green inner border and wide blue outer margins flecked with gold, reverse with a painting of a flower Mughal, 18th century

Prof. R.A. Dara, London (d.1966)
Acquired in 1965

In good overall condition, colours vivid and gold bright, album page trimmed slightly at top and bottom edges, light creased to outer margins, reverse with very minor paint losses to flower, as viewed.
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This miniature of royal women under a tree is close in style to the work of the famous Mughal artist Payag.The main female figure is very similar in pose, costume and facial features to that of a princess seated on a rock in a painting attributed to Payag's brother Balchand (British Library, Johnson Album 10,4, see Losty and Roy 2012, pp.111-2, fig.63; see also Falk and Archer p.409, no.100). The face of the girl on the left in the present work is of particularly strong character, with a sense of realism as if painted from life. However, paintings done from life of the ladies of the harem are extremely rare in Mughal painting, idealised portraits being considered preferable. Even those portraits said to be of favourite royal wives are often idealised. The somewhat romantic composition of the present work, with the heavily overhanging tree, lush floral foreground and atmospheric skyscape, contribute to a sense of almost languid ease, enhanced by the rich and diaphanous costumes of the females figures, and is typical of Payag's later work. For comparisons with other Mughal paintings, see Godard 1937, pp.231-2 & 234, no.39, fig.89, Pal 1993, pp.287-8, no.82. For a closely related Bikaner version of this painting, see Topsfield 1980, p.38, no.16, col.pl.5, p.20. 

Payag (fl. circa 1595-1655) was one of the greatest and most unusual artists of the royal Mughal atelier. He was the brother of Balchand and his career spanned the period from the end of Akbar's reign to Shah Jahan's. He contributed to the Razmnama, the Baburnama and the Iyar-i Danish during the 1590s, but seems to have become less popular and less productive during Jahangir's reign. His career came fully to fruition during the late 1620s, under the patronage of Shah Jahan, when his style also developed a new confidence and distinctive manner. He became very fond of night or dusk scenes, with fires and candles providing glowing and flickering light sources and deep shadows, his frequent use of a smoky atmosphere and chiaroscuro in such paintings becoming a signature feature of his style. For discussions of Payag see Seyller in Beach, Fischer and Goswamy 2011, pp.321-336; Okada 1992, pp.207-215; Dye 1991; Welch 1995; Leach 1995, pp.115-116.