The scene of leisure portrayed here typifies the gracious style of late Mughal painting as practiced at regional centers such as Lucknow in the mid-eighteenth century. This style grew out of earlier imperial Mughal court painting, retaining its delicate brushwork and subtle palette but developing new themes and stylistic elements, which reflected the provincial culture of the smaller courts of Avadh. In this composition, a prince and his consort smoke from sinuously curving pipes that extend from huqqa bases held by the female attendants flanking the couple. The five figures are enclosed within a lush, walled garden with pavilions and a flowing river in the foreground. A sense of the luxury of such courtly pastimes enjoyed by the Mughal nobility is further conveyed in the rich costumes, jewels, and sumptuous objects depicted.

The painting is attributed to Nidha Mal, a talented artist of the Delhi-based court of the Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah (r. 1719–48), who rendered several notable portraits of the sovereign and of important nobles. He later moved to Lucknow, where he continued to paint in the refined and naturalistic Delhi style and where this work is likely to have been made.