Woman Playing a Zither (drawing, recto) after a European source; calligraphy (verso) by an unknown artist

The recto of this album folio depicts a woman playing an Indian zither in a landscape. The top band and right side of the drawing are made on a different piece of paper. The verso of this folio holds a calligraphic composition consisting of two couplets of Persian poetry written in nasta’liq script in diagonal format. The drawing is an example of the self-consciously global aesthetic at the Mughal court. The woman is dressed in European clothing but adorned with Indian jewelry. Basawan, a leading artist in this blended mode to whom the work is attributed, most likely modeled the woman on a European engraving of a classical or biblical figure, but here, she is playing an Indian zither rather than a European instrument. Furthermore, she is seated on a Roman curule chair decorated with angels, and female figures, and an inscription written in illegible Latin script.