Mughal? portrait

Hi, saw this at the antiques market today. Would appreciate any opinion on this! I am not sure if this could be ivory and the frame makes me puzzled

 

Without some idea of how large it is, no way to know if ivory is possible or not.

 

The image itself is around 3 × 4.5 inches

 

What do you think of the frame? It looks nicely hand painted and lacquered, but not the style that I woulx expect from a Mughal/ Indian work

 

It would take an extremely large tusk to take a cross section & cut it into a rectangle that is 4.5" tall. I see nothing about the color or grain that suggests ivory, so think that is not a concern. Where the lady was painted & where she was framed were not necessarily the same place. Could be a western idea of what would be appropriate.

Does look like a Mughal beauty, maybe even an identifiable one. @Any Jewelry ?

 

I think it is Nur Jahan, although the examples of the same iconography that I find look 100% contemporary. I think there should be some original work they refer to

 

Having a little nip?

 

You identified the lady correctly, it is Mughal empress Nur Jahan, the Afghan beauty.

You are absolutely right, it is not Mughal era, but Mughal style, made in Kashmir, NW India. That colourful lacquer is typical of Kashmir.
It is not very old, but very pretty. Kashmiri sellers generally call the material 'faux ivory', which could be anything from bone to a modern plastic.
Mughal themed miniatures are still being painted today in northern India and Pakistan. They copy the old Mughal era miniatures, often copies of copies, always in the historic style. It is a traditional art of the region, just like the Persians still paint Persian miniatures. The original could have been in a Mughal book.

Unfortunately something happened to cause smudging in the centre of the portrait, just where her face is. The lower part of her face, her ear, her headdress and the details of her jewellery are smeared. Probably some *** tried to clean it.
I take it from your post that you haven't bought it yet, so I would say, don't be tempted by her beauty, don't buy. There will be other Mughal style miniatures on your path.

 

Knew you could bring this home. What would she be drinking?

 

Probably wine, a very Persian thing as well. The Persian influenced world had no problem with alcohol in those days.

 

Appears to be something poured & drunk in very sparing quantities. Would that be wine? Or is this a stylized way of indicating it without having the bottle & the cup take over the scene?

 

Her little chalice looks a bit like my Anglo-Indian drinks measure, so she could be mixing a cocktail for hubby Jahangir.

 

It could be symbolic for intoxicated with love for Jahangir. The flask looks like the flasks used in weddings. Those stand for the mythical life elixir, to some the elixir of love.

 

Interesting piece. When I first saw that section that has sort of a smeared look, was thinking it was the artist's treatment of a shear veil or scarf. Is it possible that is what is going on here?

I see a lot of vintage Mughal style paintings, haven't quite seen one like this and would have thought it had some age. Any chance for additional photos? One of the entire piece not cropped, and back would be helpful.

 

That's how I was reading it.

 

Wow, many thanks for so the details!!! I definitely learnt something new today, about the Kashmir "mughal" works. I am still in the process of exploration with the antique markets - so it's very rare that I buy anything, at least for now, rather I appreciate the possibility to learn the new things directly from the objects. The only thing that I bought in this visit was a Ukrainian book from the 1960s

 

Thank you! I also doubted if this was a veil but the contours are rather blurry, so I am not sure. It has something special that called my attention, and it has some feeling of age to it. Don't have better photos, unfortunately. It was very hot there, so it was difficult to take more decent quality photos.

 

Ah. Right you don't have it in the hand. Is there any chance you are incorrect about the dimensions and the inner piece is more like 2" or 2 1/2" high?

It is a little intriguing, but difficult to say more without additional photos.

 

I am pretty sure it was around 3x4" because the inner frame should be around 8" wide, at least

 

Mughal women didn't wear facial veils, it was a pretty liberal society, the old Persian way. As you can see, the sheer fabric goes from the turban-like wrap around her head to just below her neck and on over her shoulder.
Scarves/veils in the region are still worn very loosely, think Benazir Bhutto.