Study of a Sikh wedding party & thee views of India
Full Description:
One study and three views in India by the same hand, titled as follows: ‘A Sikh Wedding Party’, ‘Well at Hydraghur, Ray Bareilly’, ‘Mahim Fort, Bombay’, and ‘Dalmau Ghaut, Ray Bareilly’. Within this collection we have four watercolours on cartridge paper that depict a range of fascinating scenes from India.
In our first watercolour entitled ‘A Sikh Wedding Party’, we see a two-wheeled Indian cart (rath) drawn by two bullocks transporting five figures to, or from, a Sikh wedding. The rath, or gaddi forms an important part of Punjabi and North Indian culture, it formed part of the celebratory wedding entourage, with the vehicle and the bullocks usually decorated with fine bagh and phulkari textiles, as shown here. On the reverse of this painting, written in pencil is an excerpt from the poem ‘When I Roved a Young Highlander’ by Lord Bryon.
“When I see some dark hill point its crest to the sky,
I think of the rocks that o’ershadow Colbleen”
Also inscribed on the back of this painting is the location of the poem ‘The Burn of the Vat, The Vale of Colbleen’ alongside the date Aug 14th, 1880.
The following three watercolours illustrate three landscapes, two located within Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh and another of Mahim Fort, Bombay (Mumbai). All three of these paintings have inscriptions written on the back confirming the location and date of the scenes. The inscriptions are as follows:
“Indecipherable Well & indecipherable. Built by Chandry S indecipherable Ahmed.
1865 at Hydraghur.
Well at Hydraghur. Ray Bareilly
15 December 1868”
“Mahim, Bombay”
“Dalmau Ghaut, Ray Bareilly.
January 4th, 1869
Indecipherable – 2, 5, 6, 7”