- Title
- Noblewoman Archer on Cylindrical Base with Hunters
- Date Made
- 18th century
- Medium
- Ivory
- Dimensions
- 8 1/4 x 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 in. (20.96 x 3.81 x 3.81 cm)
- Accession Number
- M.75.80a-b
- Collecting Area
- South and Southeast Asian Art
- Curatorial Notes
The noblewoman archer stands on a figural base comparable in conception to M.87.275.1, but here populated with her entourage of female attendants on foot carrying weaponry and hunting falcons or riding on horseback. The elegantly attired regal subject wears ornate jewelry, a pointed brocade cap, bodice, skirt, trousers, and slippers. She holds a bow and handkerchief.
Images of royal women hunting became popular in Mughal and Deccani painting in the 17th century onward. They may have been inspired by accounts of the influential women at court who participated in hunts, such the Mughal Empresses Nur Jahan (1577–1645) and Jahanara Begum (1614–81), as well as historical heroines such as Sultana Chand Bibi (1550–1599) of Bijapur who was a renowned warrior and huntress. In a posthumous portrait of Chand Bibi hunting deer, attributed to Hyderabad in circa 1750, one of her companions holding a trained falcon wears the same style of pointed cap as represented here (see the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, IS.157-1952).
- Selected Bibliography
- Pal, Pratapaditya. Elephants and Ivories in South Asia. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1981.