Dutch Tavern Scene

This is a reverse glass painting from western India, made by a Chinese artist. According to a description of the painting published on page 234 of the book ‘Reverse Glass Painting in India’ by Professor Anna L. Dallapiccola:
“The love for the exotic is amply demonstrated by this copy of a Dutch genre painting or engraving. An aged couple sits at the table; their curved shoulders and wrinkled faces unmercifully rendered. The man, in a red cap and dark jacket with metal buttons, carries in one hand a tankard filled with beer whose head is almost running over its rim. He warmly shakes the hand of the woman, who holds a pipe in her left hand. Her head is covered by a light-coloured cloth and her shoulders are swathed in an indigo shawl, both executed in tie and dye technique. These items, imported from India, were extremely fashionable in eighteenth and nineteenth century Europe. A shaft of light falls on the table and on the couple, setting off the man's cap and the woman's head cloth and shawl on an otherwise grey background.”