Two women seated on a terrace, surrounded by attendants and musicians
date: label: Date
content: ca. 1650
label: Period
content: Mughal dynasty, Reign of Shah Jahan
notes: label: Court
content: Mughal Court
label: School/Tradition
content: Mughal school
label: Label
content: Since custom forbade highborn ladies of the imperial Mughal court from interacting with men outside their immediate family, the private outdoor spaces of palace gardens became ideal locations for women's entertainment and social intercourse. Paintings of such scenes became increasingly popular during the reign of Emperor Jahangir (reigned 1605-27) and may have been specifically commissioned by noblewomen, many of whom were powerful patrons of the arts. Some, like the Empress Nur Jahan, were also garden designers.
label: Label
content: This carefully observed composition presents a second walled palace garden in the distant landscape. It is located on the far side of the once silver, but now tarnished, river.
label: Provenance
content: Before 1890
label: Provenance
content: Ownership information unknown
label: Provenance
content: By 1890-1907
label: Provenance
content: Colonel Henry Bathurst Hanna (1839-1914), method of acquisition unknown [1]
label: Provenance
content: 1907-1919
label: Provenance
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Colonel Henry Bathurst Hanna [2]
label: Provenance
content: From 1920
label: Provenance
content: Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer [3]
label: Provenance
content: Notes:
label: Provenance
content: [1] See “Catalogue of Indo-Persian Pictures and Manuscripts, Principally of the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth Centuries by Native Artists, Collected by H. B. Hanna” [book], (London: Dowdeswell and Dowdeswells, 1890).
label: Provenance
content: Colonel Henry Bathurst Hanna (1839-1914) was an officer in the British military and a collector of Indian paintings. Born in Petersfield, Hampshire, England, Hanna’s family later moved to London, where he was baptized in 1851. Beginning in 1857, Hanna served as a commissioned officer in the Indian Army and retired with the rank of Colonel in 1889. After his retirement, he resided in London and Petersfield with his younger sisters. According to Hanna, he began collecting Indian paintings around the time of the Indian Rebellion (1857-1859). See letter from Henry Bathurst Hanna to Charles Lang Freer, dated April 10, 1908 [sic, 1907], p. 3, Box 17, Folder No. 10, Charles Lang Freer Papers, National Museum of Asian Art Archives, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
label: Provenance
content: [2] See Charles Lang Freer art voucher no. 24, “For a collection of Indo-Persian pictures and manuscripts” from H. B. Hanna of Heathmere, Petersfield, Hants. [Hampshire], England, from October 1907, Box 114, Folder No. 12, Charles Lang Freer Papers, National Museum of Asian Art Archives, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., copy in object file.
label: Provenance
content: [3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.
label: Provenance
content: Research updated April 19, 2024
label: Collection
content: Freer Gallery of Art Collection
label: Exhibition History
content: Body Image (October 14, 2017 - ongoing)
label: Exhibition History
content: East of Eden: Gardens in Asian Art (February 24 to May 13, 2007)
label: Exhibition History
content: Female Imagery in Indian Painting (February 9 to August 5, 1996)
label: Exhibition History
content: South and South East Asian Art (May 9, 1993 to February 7, 2000)
label: Exhibition History
content: The Brush of the Masters: Drawings from India (October 14, 1978 to May 15, 1979)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Colonel Henry Bathurst Hanna (1839-1914) (C.L. Freer source)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
place: label: Origin
content: India
topic: label: Topic
content: music
label: Topic
content: woman
label: Topic
content: drum
label: Topic
content: lute
label: Topic
content: picnic
label: Topic
content: Mughal dynasty (1526 - 1858)
label: Topic
content: Reign of Shah Jahan (1628 - 1658)
label: Topic
content: garden
label: Topic
content: India
label: Topic
content: smoking
label: Topic
content: hookah
label: Topic
content: South Asian and Himalayan Art
label: Topic
content: attendant
label: Topic
content: Charles Lang Freer collection
setName: label: On View
content: West Building (Freer Gallery of Art), Gallery 01: Body Image: Arts of the Indian Subcontinent
label: Related Online Resources
content: Google Arts & Culture
label: See more items in
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Charles Lang Freer
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: F1907.213
objectType: label: Type
content: Painting
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Opaque watercolor and gold on paper
label: Dimensions
content: H x W: 23.2 x 17.8 cm (9 1/8 x 7 in)