Women playing at cross-dressing, c. 1680–1700; border added 1800s
Gallery mode Full size at the museum

Window mode follows your eyes with your camera, in this browser only: no picture or position leaves your device.

Women playing at cross-dressing

c. 1680–1700; border added 1800s

Medium
ink heightened with colors on paper
Classification
Painting
Dimensions
Page: 33.5 x 26.7 cm (13 3/16 x 10 1/2 in.); Painting: 23.6 x 16 cm (9 5/16 x 6 5/16 in.)
Culture
India, Golconda, Deccan, 17th century
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art, Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Credit line
Gift in honor of Madeline Neves Clapp; Gift of Mrs. Henry White Cannon by exchange; Bequest of Louise T. Cooper; Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund; From the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection
Rights
Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
Who can see it
Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed

View at the Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

In this scene harem women act out the visit of a prince. One of them has donned a man’s royal feathered turban, and a lady affectionately offers a cup of wine as attendants stand by with two more bottles, a fan, and a rose. The master artist of an Indian painting workshop would draw the composition and make visual notations as to which colors and patterns should be used. The drawing would then be given to a colorist to paint, with final details rendered by another artist or the initial master.