Georg Emanuel Opiz, or Opitz (1775-1841) was born in Prague, but moved to Dresden where he studied painting under Giovanni Battista Casanova. His career really began in Vienna, where he settled in 1801, initially as a portrait painter, but soon developing an eye, and a flair, for genre scenes. It is from this beginning that this charming watercolour of a Mughul wedding procession can be seen to have its roots. His move to Paris in 1814 meant he was there while the city was occupied by the Russian army. This broadened his interest in depicting different peoples, their costumes and habits, and this is reflected in his creation of series of compositions similar to this one, frequently captioned as part of a suite designed to depict the characteristics of different nations. The happy couple process through a crowd, under a ceremonial parasol, called a mizalla or a chatr, accompanied by musicians and others carrying staffs adorned with flowers.

Watercolour, signed lower left, neatly titled and captioned Tableau charact. de dif. Nations, nouv. Suite, in the lower margin, the image 44 x 35 cm (17 ¼ x 13 ¾ in), with the caption 47 x 35 cm (18 ½ x 13 ¾ in)in decorated gold leaf frame.