- Title
- Queen Tripurasundari of Nepal (1794-1832) (?)
- Date Made
- circa 1860-1900
- Medium
- Opaque watercolor and gold on paper
- Dimensions
- 18 1/2 x 12 3/4 in. (47 x 32.4 cm)
- Accession Number
- M.91.134
- Collecting Area
- South and Southeast Asian Art
- Curatorial Notes
Probably part of a series with M.91.206, this idealized portrait likely portrays Queen Tripurasundari (or Lalit Tripura Sundari Devi, 1794-1832). She was a Queen consort of King Rana Bahadur Shah (r. 1777–1799). Along with Prime Minister Bhimsen Thapa (served 1806–1837; see M.91.206), she was regent of the kingdom for her stepson King Girvan Yuddha Bikram Shah (r. 1799-1816; see M.76.129) and for her step-grandson King Rajendra Bikram Shah (r. 1816-1847).
Queen Tripurasundari is depicted as an elegantly attired noble or wealthy woman with a devotional dot (bindi) on her forehead. She has a bouquet protruding from a headband, elaborate gold ear ornaments, gold finger rings, a necklace of red spinels (balas rubies), and the distinctive ceremonial necklace of elite Newar women and Nepal’s Living Goddess (Kumari). The lozenge-shaped horizontal pendant is an amulet container for symbolic grains of purified rice, gemstones, or a sacred verse (see M.79.242). She wears the traditional garb of a Newar woman consisting of a transparent white shawl, black coat, multicolored waist wrap, and an orange sari with a red border (haku parsi). The interior setting is adapted from contemporaneous European studio portraiture.
