Profile Head of a Woman

The Mughal Empire was founded by Babur (1483–1530), who extended the eastern Iranian Timurid dynasty to northern India, bringing with him the imperial Persian practice of book arts. Focusing on illustrated historiographical and poetic epics, Mughal art throughout this period combined Islamic, Hindu, and Jain artistic conventions. Book arts flourished under Jahangir (1569–1627), who favored a profile portrait style emphasizing strong, realistic facial modeling contrasted with subdued body rendering. This study of a woman’s head and upper torso, though unfinished, follows this convention. The ruby and pearl nath earrings (used as a pierced nose ornament to signify a married woman); ruby and sapphire hair jewelry; pearl and gem necklace; and fine, sheer malmal or muslin of the courtesan’s attire attest to the refined and luxurious harem lifestyle of the sitter. However, out of propriety, artists almost never produced explicit likenesses of the elite women of the harem. Under Awrangzib (1618–1707), scenes evoking court romance featuring generic harem beauties posed alone were popular. The Smart Museum’s drawing represents a classic pose for this novel format: a bust portrait of a seductively dressed woman sitting by a window. The woman’s unfinished but open-posed hands possibly were meant to hold a coy attribute such as a flower, cup, or toy. The two seals represent ownership, likely library custodians for an unidentified Mughal ruler. The cropping of the two seals indicates that the drawing itself has been cut and reframed into a later album.