Lot Essay
Colonel Robert Smith (1787-1873) of the Bengal Engineers was born in Bideford, Devon. He went to India in 1805 until his retirement in 1833. He took part in the capture of Mauritius in 1810-1811 and became A.D.C. to Sir George Nugent, the Commander-in-Chief in India in 1813 and travelled up country and surveyed the Mirzapur area. In 1814 and again in 1818 he became Superintending Engineer in Penang and designed St. George's Church there as well as making many watercolour sketches of the island. These were considered sufficiently outstanding to have been engraved by William Daniell in 1821 (Views in Prince of Wales Island [Penang]).
In 1815 to 1816 he was recalled to take part as an engineer in the Nepal War. He returned to England on leave from 1819 to 1821. Thereafter he was stationed in Delhi where he poineered the restoration of some of the Islamic momuments. He retired to England in 1833 and lived in Bideford. He seems to have travelled abroad for in about 1840 he married an heiress in Florence and upon her death in 1850 built a large 'Indian ' house on the Mont Boron Peninsula, Nice and another The Redcliffe at Paignton, Devon.
He has been confused with Captain Robert Smith of the 44th Regiment whose drawings are in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. But this Robert Smith was not in the Indian Army and not known to have painted in oils.
This picture has been previously attributed to Robert Home but Raymond Head considers the painting to be by Colonel Robert Smith. The artist was known to have been in Lucknow in 1814 and similar sketches of lively scenes in Lucknow are recorded in his sketch books now in the India Office Library, London. The attention to the architecture which dominates the painting is considered typical as are the many animated groups moving in the foreground. It is of interest that the painting is on copper since this suggests that it was painted in Europe, perhaps at Nice sometime after he returned from India, hence the Italianate frame (Nice was part of Italy). He painted all his life for his own amusement (he never exhibited) and it is known that his houses were hung with his own views to remind him of the India which obsessed him.
Paintings and watercolours by the artist can be found in the Yale Centre for British Art; India Office Library, London; Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter and Penang Museum.
The Rumi Darwaza, also called the Turkish Gate, was built in 1784 and was erroneously supposed to be a replica of the Porte Sublime in Constantinople. On the right is the Great Imambara, also of the 1780's, a building for the festival of Mumaran and also designed by Kifayat-Ullah for Asaf-ud-Daula in 1784 as a measure of famine relief; it acts as a mausoleum for the ruler and his architect. According to W.H. Russell, The Times correspondent of 1857, the complex of Oriental forms recalls 'Kublai Khan's fabled Xanadu'.
We are grateful to Raymond Head for his help in preparing this catalogue entry
In 1815 to 1816 he was recalled to take part as an engineer in the Nepal War. He returned to England on leave from 1819 to 1821. Thereafter he was stationed in Delhi where he poineered the restoration of some of the Islamic momuments. He retired to England in 1833 and lived in Bideford. He seems to have travelled abroad for in about 1840 he married an heiress in Florence and upon her death in 1850 built a large 'Indian ' house on the Mont Boron Peninsula, Nice and another The Redcliffe at Paignton, Devon.
He has been confused with Captain Robert Smith of the 44th Regiment whose drawings are in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. But this Robert Smith was not in the Indian Army and not known to have painted in oils.
This picture has been previously attributed to Robert Home but Raymond Head considers the painting to be by Colonel Robert Smith. The artist was known to have been in Lucknow in 1814 and similar sketches of lively scenes in Lucknow are recorded in his sketch books now in the India Office Library, London. The attention to the architecture which dominates the painting is considered typical as are the many animated groups moving in the foreground. It is of interest that the painting is on copper since this suggests that it was painted in Europe, perhaps at Nice sometime after he returned from India, hence the Italianate frame (Nice was part of Italy). He painted all his life for his own amusement (he never exhibited) and it is known that his houses were hung with his own views to remind him of the India which obsessed him.
Paintings and watercolours by the artist can be found in the Yale Centre for British Art; India Office Library, London; Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter and Penang Museum.
The Rumi Darwaza, also called the Turkish Gate, was built in 1784 and was erroneously supposed to be a replica of the Porte Sublime in Constantinople. On the right is the Great Imambara, also of the 1780's, a building for the festival of Mumaran and also designed by Kifayat-Ullah for Asaf-ud-Daula in 1784 as a measure of famine relief; it acts as a mausoleum for the ruler and his architect. According to W.H. Russell, The Times correspondent of 1857, the complex of Oriental forms recalls 'Kublai Khan's fabled Xanadu'.
We are grateful to Raymond Head for his help in preparing this catalogue entry