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Collections

Muhammad Faqirullah Khan (attributed to)
A Princess and Her Companions Enjoying a Terrace Ambiancecirca 1760-1770

Not on view
Mughal or Rajput miniature painting of six women in colorful dress gathered on a terrace beside a fountain, with a garden, lake, and golden hills behind them
Opaque watercolor manuscript painting depicting seven women in colorful Mughal-style dress gathered on a terrace; a central figure in white and gold raises one arm while holding a red cord. A formal garden with a marble fountain, flowering beds, and a lush landscape with golden hills, a river, and grazing deer fills the background. Blue border with gold ruling.
Opaque watercolor manuscript painting with gold borders; landscape with yellow hills, a silver river, and a thatched pavilion amid dense green trees; deer and cranes populate the scene; at lower edge, elegantly dressed women gesture toward the garden.
Mughal-style opaque watercolor painting of seven women in vibrant jamas and dupattas standing on a garden terrace; one central figure raises her arm holding a flower while another holds a red cord attached to a bird; below, a white marble fountain pool is flanked by red railings and flowering beds.
Artist or Maker
Muhammad Faqirullah Khan (attributed to)
Title
A Princess and Her Companions Enjoying a Terrace Ambiance
Place Made
India, Uttar Pradesh, Farrukhabad
Date Made
circa 1760-1770
Medium
Opaque watercolor and gold on paper
Dimensions
Image: 11 x 7 1/2 in. (27.94 x 19.05 cm); Sheet: 16 1/8 x 11 3/4 in. (40.96 x 29.85 cm); Mat: 27 3/4 x 21 3/4 in. (70.49 x 55.25 cm)
Credit Line
Art Museum Council Fund
Accession Number
M.2005.159
Classification
Drawings
Collecting Area
South and Southeast Asian Art
Curatorial Notes

This cultured painting portrays an elegant princess and her companions enjoying a beautiful day on a palace terrace beside a water fountain, lush flower beds, and blossoming trees. The terrace overlooks a spectacular vista of a lake and mountains alive with pairs of antelope, cranes, and rabbits. The animals are symbolic of loving couples, and are included to contribute to the romantic emotional essence of the painting. The landscape is rendered with European-style perspective, with the figures and buildings diminishing in size as they recede into the distance.

Formerly in the renowned William and Mildred Archer collection, London, this well-known published work is a superb example of the highly refined painting produced in Farrukhabad during the peaceful and stable rule of Ahmad Khan Bangash (r. 1750-1771). It is attributed to Muhammad Faqirullah Khan (active circa 1720-1770), who was known for his distinctive elongated figures and oval faces with an aquiline nose. Farrukhabad was a small principality only 80 mi. NW of Lucknow, which rivaled Delhi as an artistic, cultural, and political center during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Farrukhabad painting was heavily influenced by the neighboring Lucknow court’s sophisticated aesthetic traditions. The subject of palace women on a terrace with a distant landscape inspired by European conventions of perspective is regarded as one of the most successful and important compositions favored in Farrukhabad painting.

See also M.87.278.9.

Selected Bibliography

  • "2005-2006 Selected Acquisitions." LACMA Insider 4, no.1 (2006): 4-7.