BISHAN SINGH (1836 – CIRCA 1900), PROBABLY AMRITSAR, NORTH INDIA, 1940 VS/1883-84 AD

Bishan Singh, also known as Baba Bishan Singh, came from a family of artists operating in Lahore and Amritsar in the second half of the 19th century. The family were responsible for painting and maintaining the murals and motifs on the walls of the Sikh holiest shrine, the Golden Temple, and it is there that Bishan, along with his brother Kishan Singh, learnt his trade. Whilst a keen painter of scenes of daily life in the Punjab, Bishan Singh became particularly famous for his detailed depictions of the Court of Maharaja Ranjit Singh (1780-1839).
Also known as the Lion of the Punjab, Ranjit Singh is the man who, after the Gurus, commands the greatest respect amongst the Sikhs. In 1799 Ranjit Singh captured the Fort of Lahore (built by the Mughal Emperor Akbar in the 1560s) and was declared Maharaja shortly after in 1800. The present painting depicts a Durbar in immaculate detail. The room in which the Durbar is taking place is bedecked with a lapis blue floor upon which a fine green carpet has been laid. An equally luxurious red canopy adorns the ceiling. This is one of a number of Durbar scenes from the court of Ranjit Singh, all painted by Bishan Singh after the great ruler’s death, . Another version, which dates to 1864, was sold in these Rooms, 7 October 2008, lot 245, and is now in the Toor Collection (Davinder Toor, In Pursuit of Empire – Treasures from the Toor Collection of Sikh Art, London, 2018, pp.90-95.). A second, dated 1870-71, was sold at Sotheby’s, 31 March 2021, lot 44. Although each scene has slight differences in the characters depicted and the exact composition, the present painting is the only one with an indoor setting and, perhaps unusually, Ranjit Singh is not shown seated on his famous golden throne, now in the Victoria & Albert Museum (inv.2518(IS)).
Much like the other two Durbar paintings, Bishan Singh has arranged the four Princes of the ruler seated to his right. They are seated in order of importance from Prince Kharak Singh closest to Ranjit Singh through to the young Duleep Singh, the boy King and last Maharaja of the Punjab who would eventually be deposed, brought to England, and become a favourite of Queen Victoria. In front of Ranjit Singh are the main courtiers. We see the spiritual advisor Bai Ram Singh Vasti sat between the two powerful, but ultimately treacherous, Dogra brothers. Beyond them is sat Raja Gulab Singh, the first Maharaja of Kashmir, then Raja Suchet and finally Raja Dhian Singh, the First Minister. Such is the level of detail observed that Raja Dhian Singh is clearly identifiable by his additional digit on the right hand. Diwan Dina Nath, the administrator, is seen at the bottom of the painting sat on the carpet with his clerks. Looking through the door to the landscape beyond we see cavalry and elephants, all richly caparisoned, standing on parade.
A very comparable scene, attributable to Bishan Singh and depicting Maharaja Sher Singh (r.1841-42) watching a nautch performance formerly in the Edwin Binney 3rd Collection, is now in the San Diego Museum of Art (acc.no.1990.1348). Another similar painting of ‘Dost Muhammad being received by Sher Singh in Lahore on his way to regain the throne of Kabul’ is in the Kapany Collection (Stronge, op.cit., no.189, pp.166-7).