Indian Miniature Paintings: Women at Work and Leisure Notecard Folio

Paintings such as the two small Indian examples featured here were gathered together in albums, although over the years most of these albums have been taken apart, with their pages now dispersed among collections around the world. These two paintings were probably not part of the same album, but nevertheless they make a pleasing pair, illustrating Indian women both at work and at leisure. In one, painted in about 1810, a woman dishes out food from a large gold pot. The brilliant palette of mainly yellow, orange, and red is suggestive of the hot, fiery food she has cooked. The other, from the mid 18th century, depicts an obviously wealthier woman, one who presumably has her meals cooked for her and therefore has time to relax outdoors in a delightful, flower-filled setting.

Contains five each of the following notecards:
A Woman Serving a Meal, c. 1810
A Young Woman Reading a Book, mid-18th century