Company Paintings

'Company Painting' was a short-lived art historical episode which was at its peak between 1800 and 1840. Earlier works are relatively rare and after 1850, photography overtook painting as the preferred medium of capturing India life and culture. The art historical term Company School Painting is derived from its patrons, who for the most part, were employees of the various European East India Companies, though now the term is understood in the wider sense of work commissioned from Indian artists by Europeans, chiefly British. The European visitor to India, who arrived in the last quarter of the 18th Century, had both the time and the means to appreciate and record Indian culture. There was a romantic fascination with Indian everyday life and European residents and visitors commissioned vast sets of watercolours to send back to friends and family, depicting tradesmen and local crafts and conveyances, bazaars, architecture, the local flora and fauna and on occasions their own interaction with the Indian courts, rulers and festivals.

The Indian artists they patronised were trained in the court ateliers of the Mughal and Rajput leaders as manuscript illustrators and their technique was characterised by a vibrant palette and a miniaturist attention to detail, where pattern was more important than naturalism. Most of the artists remain anonymous and it is unusual for the name of a Company School artist to be recorded as the majority of their works for the western marked were unsigned, however some of the most accomplished built up a huge following with many commissions. Western naturalism did gradually begin to influence the local artists as they began to copy the painting techniques of European artists such as William Hodges (1744-1797), Thomas Daniell (1749-1840) and William Daniell, Francois Balthazar Solvyns (1760-1824) and Sir Charles D’Oyly, (1781-1845) and as we can see in the work of Shailkh Muhammad Amir of Karraya (Lot 176) a distinctive hybrid style developed of which he was one of the foremost proponents.

Collection Highlights

Landscapes

Leading the collection, we have two landscapes offering views near Murshidabad or Kasimbazar (Lot 175). Murshidabad was a wealthy city and during the second half of the 18th Century there was an increasing number of British residents living there and in the neighbourhood. In 1767 barracks for British troops were built at Berhampore, six miles to the south and after 1775 a Resident was appointed to the Nawab’s Durbar. British inhabitants were attracted to Murshidabad because of its location on the Bhagirathi River which linked Calcutta to the main channel of the Ganges. Boats would stop at Murshidabad to take on fresh provisions and water. The river was the main highway from Calcutta to Upper India until the mid-19th century and the arrival of the railways.

As patronage by Indian society diminished the court artists looked for new a source of livelihood amongst the large number of British living there. These pair of works depict an extensive European residence from opposite vantage points. The English gentleman who commissioned these evidently wished the artist to depict not just his house, but his whole establishment including its pavilions, outbuildings, walled establishments, trees, boats, indoor and outdoor servants, crews, guards and soldiers with their Hindu shrines and Muslim mosques. He is portrayed in the second one, painted reclining in his palanquin, while reading a book in front of his splendid establishment.

Lots 181 & 182 are by a Mushidabad artist working for the surveyor and map maker James Hoare (active circa 1790-1795). Travelling to the far north of India and Dehli was still an adventure towards the end of the 18th Century, Dehli was three months journey from Calcutta and the surrounding countryside was unsettled. However, British rule was being extended northwards and administrators were gradually pushing north preceded by the surveyors.

The first work, Lot 181, shows a view of the river bank at Varanasi (Benares) in Uttar Pradesh, circa 1790-95. Varanasi, situated on the holy River Ganges, was founded in the 6th century BC and is one of the seven sacred cities of Hinduism.

The second work, Lot 182, then shows a view of the Fort at Ramnagur, near Benares on the River Ganges. Every European traveller was curious to see the celebrated centre of Hindu pilgrimages.

Sporting Art

From the studio of Shaikh Muhammad Amir, we then have two depictions of horses with grooms (Lot 176). Shaikh Muhammad Amir was a resident of Karraya who travelled to Calcutta around 1830 to seek employment as an artist. There he built up a huge practise at a time of great prosperity and secured many commissions to depict the British residents of Calcutta’s houses, servants, pets and conveyances. He was so successful that in order to meet all his commissions he established an atelier where other talented artists assisted him. 

Imbibing Western painting conventions, he introduced shadows and similar devices into his art for their aesthetic, rather than logical, value. The artists would also have been familiar with the poses of horses and grooms in English sporting prints and the representation of the horses reflects the contemporary passion for racing in Anglo-India circles. It is unusual for the name of a Company School artist to be recorded as the majority of work executed for the western market was unsigned.

Military & Royal Protocol

Another highlight of the collection is a set of six watercolours by a Delhi based artist working for Lieutenant-Colonel Skinner (Lot 177).

Colonel James Skinner (1778-1841) was the son of a Scottish soldier father and a Rajput mother. He began his career as a mercenary in the Maratha cavalry, before being ejected from their ranks because of his British blood. He was later recruited by the East India Company when Delhi fell to them in 1803. Skinner founded the famous 1st and 2nd Skinner’s Horse regiments, who were nicknamed ‘The Yellow Boys’ for their flamboyant saffron-coloured uniforms. They were made up of local cavalrymen recruited from the villages of Mewatti, Maratha and Rohilla near Delhi and became famous for their horsemanship and skill with weapons and were soon regarded as the best cavalry force in North India.

Skinner himself was a prominent member of Delhi society and became closely acquainted with William and James Fraser who commissioned the finest Indian artists to produce European-style portraits and landscape drawings of unrivalled skill and significance.

The present set of six watercolour appear to relate to Lieutenant-Colonel James Skinner’s personal manual of cavalry manoeuvres produced for his officers and based on his experience of commanding cavalry. Written in Persian and Urdu, it detailed British and Indian cavalry manoeuvres, combining the merits of both. The manual was illustrated in beautiful detail by a Company artist. A closely related painting titled ‘Rules for the Manoeuvres of the Hindustani Musket Cavalry’ is in the National Army Museum, London, dated to circa 1824.

The following six drawings depict a Horseman tent-pegging with a lance at the gallop; Horseman after he has speared his peg; Horseman with one foot in the stirrup, shooting with a pistol at another with a lance; Horseman with one foot in the stirrup, using his sword against another with a lance; Horseman shooting with a musket at the left side of another similarly armed; and Horseman with a shield and musket shooting over his shoulder at another similarly armed.

Finally, another subject matter represented in this collection is royal protocol, with a depiction of Muhammad Shah in a procession with Alivardi Khan of Bengal (Lot 178). Mirza Nasir-ud-Din Muḥammad Shah (1702-1748) was the thirteenth Mughal emperor who reigned from 1719 until 1748. he is lavishly attired and bejewelled and is carried in a palanquin with the attributes of kingship: a royal parasol, chauri, fans and smoking a hookah. It has been suggested that the present work depicts a meeting with Alivardi Khan, Nawab of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa (reigned 1740-1756) who follows on the grey horse. He was known for establishing independent rule, fighting off Maratha invasions and maintaining stability before the British takeover. The secular and sacred power of an Indian king was established by and expressed through grand public processions that celebrated royal events and religious festivities.

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Auction Details

Wednesday 29 April, 10.30am BST
Donnington Priory, Newbury, Berkshire RG14 2JE

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