A PRINCESS AND TWO ATTENDANTS KNEELING BY A WATERFALL IN A ROCKY LANDSCAPE
INDIA, DELHI, MID-19TH CENTURY
Estimate: £1,000 - £1,500
Auction: 11 June 2025 from 10:00 BST
Description
gouache on paper, mounted on an album page with illumination in colours and gold, depicting a princess at worship at the side of a waterfall flowing from a hillside, wearing a transparent dopatta draped over her choli and sari, her hands raised in worship with trays of artefacts of worship before her, two female attendants kneeling at her side, the edge of the album page inscribed ‘Rani Padmini’
Dimensions
37.3cm x 27.7cm
Footnote
Rani Padmini, also known as Padmavati, is a legendary 13th/ 14th century queen of the Rajput kingdom of Mewar, famed for her beauty, valour, and tragic end. According to the epic poem Padmavat (1540 CE) by Malik Muhammad Jayasi, she was the wife of Rana Ratan Singh. Sultan Alauddin Khilji of Delhi, hearing of her beauty, attacked Chittor to capture her. Facing inevitable defeat, Padmini and other Rajput women committed jauhar (ritual self-immolation) to protect their honour. In our painting, Rani Padmini, is represented possessing divine gifts.