The Agna Mahal, part of the Nawab's Palace beside the Hooghly river, Murshidabad

細節

Calcutta School, circa 1810
The Agna Mahal, part of the Nawab's Palace beside the Hooghly river, Murshidabad
inscribed 'MURSHIBAD/ON THE HOOGHLY RIVER IN/WESTERN BENGAL/REDBOAT SAINSOON DER.' (on the backboard)
pencil, pen and grey ink and watercolour with gum arabic, heightened with touches of white, and with scratching out, within the artist's wash-line border, unframed
18 x 25 7/8 in. (45.7 x 64.5. cm.)

注意事項

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拍品專文

The present watercolour was probably executed by a Calcutta artist travelling up river to Murshidabad with an English patron. The array of state barges on the river include a filchera (elephant-headed) a morpankhi (peacock-headed) and an unusual horse-headed barge.

The watercolour shows the buildings at Murshidabad including the mosque to the left, the Agna Mahal in the centre and the banqueting hall to the right of the composition. The watercolour can be dated to circa 1810 as shortly after this date the buildings were destroyed to make way for the new Palace of the Nawab completed in 1837 and designed by General Duncan MacLeod (1780-1856).

The painting is very much in the 'watercolour' style of Company School painting using a western palette and washes rather than the brighter more miniaturist detail of the Mughal painters. The artist may well have been influenced by the work of Seeta Ram (fl. 1810-1822) and Seewak Ram (c. 1770-1830) who were active in Murshidabad and later Patna.