Travelers Making Music

Style of Nainsukh Indian
ca. 1760–70
Not on view
On loan to The Met
This work of art is currently on loan to the museum.
In a refreshing scene of collegial informality, a group of travelers rests beneath spreading tree branches beside the rocky banks of a stream. Their belongings, in cloth bundles on bamboo poles, lay where they were dropped. While the six appear to be singing to provide relief from the weariness of travel, a youthful figure approaches at speed from upper right. Although the exact subject is lost, the painting remains a charming vision of an everyday scene painted by a Pahari artist with a close understanding of Mughal art.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Travelers Making Music
  • Artist: Style of Nainsukh (active ca. 1735–78)
  • Date: ca. 1760–70
  • Culture: India, Himachal Pradesh, Guler
  • Medium: Opaque watercolor on paper
  • Dimensions: Image: 6 3/4 × 9 1/8 in. (17.1 × 23.2 cm)
    Framed: 11 3/8 × 13 7/8 × 7/8 in. (28.9 × 35.2 × 2.2 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: The Howard Hodgkin Collection, on loan from the Howard Hodgkin Indian Collection Trust
  • Object Number: L.2022.30.14
  • Rights and Reproduction: Photo © Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art