PUNJAB PLAINS, INDIA, CIRCA 1845

This painting and the following lot were probably done by a Kangra artist under Sikh patronage. They depict British officers, in this case seated in a European style chair inspecting ceramics. The ‘undress uniform’ suggests that he is a British administrator of the Punjab, and in the political service. The portraits were probably painted sometime between 1845 and 1849, between the first and second Sikh wars of 1845-46 and 1848-49, which ended with the annexation of the Punjab. During this period, the Sikhs under Maharaja Duleep Singh had to accept a British Resident, Sir Henry Lawrence, who with his ‘young men’ would have worn this sort of uniform.