Untitled (portraits in palms with henna)

1970s

Untitled (portraits in palms with henna), 1970s. India, 20th century. Gelatin silver print, photomontage, hand colored; image: 11.3 x 13.5 cm (4 7/16 x 5 5/16 in.); paper: 11.8 x 13.9 cm (4 5/8 x 5 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Dudley P. Allen Fund 2018.13 Two hands of a bride, with a ring on every finger and vegetal patterns drawn in henna, offer superimposed photographic images of a man and woman––probably the bride and groom––as though they are gifts of coins or flowers to the viewer. Their beautiful faces stand for the auspiciousness that their marriage and wealth imply. Jewelry and fancy textiles are seen in the background, colored with a translucent tint of turquoise blue. This color is associated in Muslim circles with paradise, but the groom’s tilak, a mark on the forehead, indicates that he is Hindu.