Company School, Benares, 1850-1890
This lot is offered without reserve. No VAT will … Read more
Company School, Benares, 1850-1890

Designs for Indian furniture including chairs and beds

Details
Company School, Benares, 1850-1890
Designs for Indian furniture including chairs and beds
Two numbered '2' and '3' respectively (upper centre)
pencil, pen and grey ink and watercolour with gum arabic, heightened with touches of white, two on joined sheets
12 1/8 x 13 in. (30.8 x 33 cm.), and slightly smaller (8)
Provenance
Anonymous sale, Sotheby's London, 16 July 1992, lot 54.
Special notice
This lot is offered without reserve. No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

Indians traditionally sat cross-legged on the floor or on Chowskis (platforms), however with the increasing arrival of Europeans, western furniture became a common feature in many Indian households. Objects such as chairs and sofas were regarded as uncomfortable, however they became necessary to receive European guests. Such furniture was usually confined to rooms only used by foreign visitors.

Initially, Calcutta and Bombay merchants thrived by importing these luxuries. However, soon Indian craftsmen began to duplicate them and even impose their own designs. Native designers and craftsmen learned to develop the Victorian aesthetics further, into outrageous complex shapes, ideal for the drawing rooms of Maharajas, Nawabs, and rich merchants. These drawings show the great imagination and inventiveness, which effectively enticed prospective buyers.

For a comparable design for an Indo-Victorian chair see S.C. Welch, Room fro Wonder: Indian Painting during the British Period 1760-1880, New York, 1978, p. 150, no. 67, illustrated.

More from West ~ East - The Niall Hobhouse Collection

View All
View All