Burmese Princess (or Dancer?)

Studio photograph of a Burmese princess or dancing girl, c. 1890. Studio photograph of a Burmese princess or dancing girl, c. 1890.

Photograph of a Burmese princess (or dancer), taken in a studio in Delhi around 1890 by Felice Beato (1825-c. 1907). The photograph shows a woman holding a long cheroot and wearing a heavily decorated set of garments and accessories, including a crown and a wrap-around skirt (hta-mein). The latter is worn underneath a richly embroidered garment made of flaring panels.

The embroidered garment is comparable to the richly decorated garments reserved in the late nineteenth century for the royal Burmese family in Mandalay.

The photograph is taken from an album dedicated in the main to Lord Elgin's tour of Burma in late 1898. Lord Elgin was the viceroy of India between 1894 and 1899.

British Library online catalogue (retrieved 4th June 2016).

WV

Last modified on Sunday, 30 April 2017 13:28