Leaning against bolsters and seated within a small double-turreted pavilion in the zenana (women's quarters) a thoughtful princess (the nayika) listens to her sakhi (the confidante) who sits opposite playing her vina - a small stringeꦡd instrument. Another musician outside accompanies with tiny cymbals on her delicate fingers. Two other maidens attend bearing a flask and jar of ointment. Our nayika is preparing to meet her beloved (the nayaka), who she has likely not seen in quite some time.

In the lower half of the composition a rectangular pool with a geꦛntly spraying fountain is set within an expanse of marble terrace and black ground. The stark black and white geometry of the lower register in contrast to the detailed depiction of the figures and pavilion above. A radiant golden sun is low in the sky as evening begins to set in.

Our present, exquisite painting is certainly from Kishangarh in Rajasthan given its composition and color palette with refined gold ornamentation. But perhaps most significantly💯 is the imagining of our nayika as the archetypal Bani Thani - singer and poetess - who became the mistress and lover of Raja Sawant Singh (1748-1764) of Kishangarh. The distinctive look of her face with its elongated lotus-like eyes, pointed chin and arched eyebrows may be associated with the Mughal-trained Kishangarhi artist

Nihal♋ Chand who first developed this distinctive characteriza๊tion in the mid 18th century.