Most Pahari painters representing portraits of Mughal princesses tend to
feature the
women as wearing turbans. The fashion may not have been
widespread but it did exist and was mainly sported by princesses and royal
ladies who seem to have taken to wearing a headdress like a man's turban.
There is a sumptuousness about her appearance that is difficult to miss; the
noble and soft features, the finely tied turban, and the transparent muslin
peshvaz. The artist has painted her having a charming oval face with
excellent features including an ample forehead and large brown eyes. Her
arms and hands are slender and the palms are dyed red. Tresses of her
luxuriant black hair are well kept under the turban but flow without holds
over her shoulder and back. The artist has certainly added his imaginary
touches, presenting her as a paragon of beauty. She wears a sleeved peshvaz
which is so transparent that the body appears like nude under it revealing
its mysterious charm. She is adorned with turban ornaments, gold earrings
hanging down to her neck, necklaces and pearl strings and lots of bangles
and finger rings. She holds a lotus bud in one hand and a full bloomed one
in the other.
True to the tradition of its time, the body is in three-fourth profile while
the face is in rigid profile accent.
This description by Renu Rana.
Pinturas
