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A Ruler Presents a Document to Visiting Nobles

Unknown

1710

unspecified

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Baroque Rococo painting 18th Century Genre Scene Deccan

Dominant colour

A Ruler Presents a Document to Visiting Nobles is a 1710 unspecified by Unknown, a Baroque work, depicting Deccan, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.

Who painted this?: Unknown
When & what style?: 1710 · Baroque
Where can I see it?: Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

You see a ruler handing a letter to visiting nobles in a yellow-lit room. A servant waves a peacock-feather whisk over the host’s head. Bowls of betel leaves and roses sit between them. The carpet under their feet is woven in mustard yellow with a faint lattice pattern—this tone-on-tone design marked the spot where the most important guest sat. The scene feels like a quiet pause in a long conversation about poetry or politics. To see more moments like this, look up the subject mughal india, deccan.

The story of this work

Overview

Many carpets produced in the southwestern region of the Indian subcontinent feature a tone-on-tone mustard-yellow color scheme with lattice design. It demarcates the space of honor for the highest-ranking members of the refined gathering of literary connoisseurs. The figure facing right, with the peacock-feather whisk held over him, would be the host. He has a letter or poem in his hand. His guests have partaken of an aromatic betel-leaf packet ( paan ) and a rose from the dishes between them. Implements for writing and trimming paper lie on the carpet between a spittoon and courtly stabbing…