Painting

Paintings from Avadh (which the British knew as Oudh) in North India in the 18th century are usually rather stiff and formal in their composition and subject-matter, so this scene of carousing ladies is rather unusual. The style in which it is painted suggests that it may have been painted by an artist from outside the region (from Rajasthan, perhaps) rather than one trained in the late Mughal style with which Avadh is usually associated.