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Lot Essay
In the summer of 1783, Hodges stayed in Lucknow as a guest of Colonel Antoine Polier and General Claude Martin, two of the most prominent members of a small côterie of Europeans which enjoyed an affluent and civilised existence as appendages in the court of Asaf-ud-daulah.
The subject of the present picture is described by Hodges (Travels, London, 1793, pp. 101-2). 'The palace of the Nabob is on a high bank, near to the river, and commanding an extensive view both of the Goonty and the country on the eastern side.... The exterior of the building is not to be commended; it reminded me of that I had imagined might be the style of a Baron's castle in Europe, about the twelfth century, close to the palace, divided by a narrow dirty or dusty road, is a garden, lately made by the Nabob, walled round, and at each angle is a grand pavilion, built of brick, and covered with chunam or stucco, and then painted with ornaments, which at a little distance has a rich effect. I have introduced a View of the Palace: on the foreground of the picture is one of the pavilions, and on a high bank is a mosque, with two minarets; and adjoining is a durgaw, or burial place, with a view of the river'.
This picture is a study for an oil painting recorded in Warren Hastings' collection entitled 'View of the palace of the Nabob Vizier at Lucknow; painted on the spot' which was exhibited at the Royal Academy, 1785, no. 51, and engraved by James Fittler, see W. Hodges, Travels in India during the years 1780, 1781, 1782 and 1783, London, 1795, opposite p.102.
The subject of the present picture is described by Hodges (Travels, London, 1793, pp. 101-2). 'The palace of the Nabob is on a high bank, near to the river, and commanding an extensive view both of the Goonty and the country on the eastern side.... The exterior of the building is not to be commended; it reminded me of that I had imagined might be the style of a Baron's castle in Europe, about the twelfth century, close to the palace, divided by a narrow dirty or dusty road, is a garden, lately made by the Nabob, walled round, and at each angle is a grand pavilion, built of brick, and covered with chunam or stucco, and then painted with ornaments, which at a little distance has a rich effect. I have introduced a View of the Palace: on the foreground of the picture is one of the pavilions, and on a high bank is a mosque, with two minarets; and adjoining is a durgaw, or burial place, with a view of the river'.
This picture is a study for an oil painting recorded in Warren Hastings' collection entitled 'View of the palace of the Nabob Vizier at Lucknow; painted on the spot' which was exhibited at the Royal Academy, 1785, no. 51, and engraved by James Fittler, see W. Hodges, Travels in India during the years 1780, 1781, 1782 and 1783, London, 1795, opposite p.102.