A Bevy of Boqta Hats and Ways To Wear Them, or A Study of Young Akbar Recognizes His Mother.

Today's dive is into a folio from the Akbarnama, specifically the one titled Young Akbar Recognizes His Mother, held at the Freer-Sacker Museum and provided online by the Smithsonian.

First off, I have to commend the Smithsonian for proviing such a complete image on its website. The extraordinary amount of magnification possible really brings out a lot of details I haven't been able to see clearly in other illuminations. This one is key. Do click through the link to peruse the entire page.

This is a rare Akbarnama page with images of many, many women. It also provides something else - a study in how the women in this image wore and accessorized their slant-topped boqtas (as compared to the taqi, or flat-topped boqtas) presented in the works of other artists. There is scant variation in color here - all hats being white, gold or a combination of the two - but there are so many ways the hats, veils, jewelry and costumes of each woman, that this illuination becomes a precious resource for those attempting an early Mughal aesthetic in their clothing.

It should be noted that Akbar commissioned this work, which means the rendition is not contemporary to the actual date of what it represents; namely, Akbar's birth. The potential for fashion assumption from another time (think how Mother and Child renditions of the Virgin Mary and Christ are portrayed in the Renaissance) is quite possible. The piece is dated to 1590, which still leaves us in-period.

So, the women.

The image centers around Emperor Humayun and one of his wives, Hamida Banu Begun, with Akbar as a boy. Humayun's hat is rather impressive in itself - in fact, I'm not certain how it could have been constructed, but that's not my concern here. Hamida's boqta is delicately illuminated, showing what appears to be either a decorative element incorporated into the brocade itself of the hat or if it's something applied after the material was sewn onto its understructure.

The marvelously digitalized image allows a very close inspection. The proportions of the hat to Hamida's head don't seem quite right - but then, if illuminations were perfect, we wouldn't have all the questions of how Mughal women dressed, now would we? The pattern on the hat would indicate it comes to some sort of point in the front; however, the shape of Hamida's head bears it out as a smooth, un-tipped edge. The fine detail of the quill used in expressing her features shows her hair escaping from the edge, as well as the leaves and stripes of the fabric. There's what appears to be the fold of fabric in the back, either a depiction of the edge of the veil attatched to the top, falling over the back of the hat or a fold in the fabric of the hat itself. The design on the front is enhanced with red. The translucent veil falls over her shoulders. She is wearing a coat but no del underneath, over a wrist- and floor-length gown, with pearls at the neck. She is wearing earrings and has a ring on her thumb.

The women of the harem surround the couple and their child. Every one of them is wearing a full gown that reaches the wrist, slant-topped boqta hats and jewelry. The different jewelery pieces include pearls at the neck and wrists; bandolier-style chains with gold pendants; necklaces with similar gold pendants; and earrings. Some of the women wear coats, others wear scarves. The few feet we see are bare.

Many of the women also have what appear to be bottles in pairs suspended by a common string, with gold caps.

The variation of the hats draws my notice - I have seen this image before but not at this size before. Not knowing the identities of the other women is a problem - it's hard to determine whether these ladies are of the royal family, are artists or workers or even concubines.

What I do notice is this woman who apparently is using a string of pearls rather than a veil to keep her hat on.

There are also servants with veils on their hats - I assume they're servants because they're rendered below the royal couple and appear to be carrying items to them. One has a solid white veil.

The other's veil is TEAL. It's the only colored veil in the entire piece, and her boqta appears to have been painted white over whatever was there originally.

None of the women are wearing scarves or turbans under their hats. Many have braids down their backs.

The earrings are also of note - most in the traditional spot we're accoustomed to in the mundane world, but at least one on the back or upper lobe of the ear.

The fct that Humayun is wearing a del under his coat and the women of the harem are not, plus the bare feet, should confirm that this is a harem scene. Once into the 17th century, these sorts of scenes become rather debauched (think the Kama Sutra) but here, the harem is a community of women. I'm bookmarking this one to come back for later study on the printing of several of the dresses and on the pillow on which Humayun is perched; I suspect a bit more research into period textiles and tiles might allow us to find a suitable design to render into one of Grav's woodcuts, which I might then be able to use to print the fabric for a dress.

And... I want this peacock fan. I need to figure out how to make that happen.