DELHI, INDIA, 1830-40

The history of this painting is elucidated by a pencilled note on the reverse. It states that it was originally accompanied by a second picture, inscribed on the back: ‘A Nautch at Col. Skinner’s given to me by himself 1838’. The note adds that the second picture was in the India Office Library, the collection of which has since moved to the British Library (acc.no.Add.Or.2598, illustrated). The two paintings are of a similarly high quality: small details like the marble jali wall behind the dancers are meticulous in their detail. They are also executed with similar pigments, including a silver paint used for some of the vessels on the floor, which in both paintings have tarnished. Finally, both paintings are set within broad gold borders framed by white rules. Though some of the musicians and dancers are obviously different, some - such as the figure in the foreground - may well be the same person: unfortunately, the names of the members of Skinner's nautch troupe do not seem to have been recorded.

Emily Eden said of Colonel James Skinner (1778-1841) that ‘he was one of those people whose lives ought to be written about for the particular amusement of later generations’ (Eden 1866, p.96). Skinner was the son of a Rajput mother, and because of this was banned from being an officer in the East India Company’s army. Consequently he joined the Marathas, where he attained high rank while fighting the British, before switching sides to lead an irregular cavalry force for the East India Company. He was granted the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in 1815 and began to live the genteel life of the Anglo-Indian elite: he set up a farm on his estate in Haryana, a painting of which by Ghulam Ali Khan is in the National Army Museum, London (acc.no.NAM.1956-02-27-1). He wrote several books, including a monograph about the Caste system (Kitab-i tasrih al-aqvam) and a collection of the histories of the princely families of the North of India (Tadhkirat al-umara’). Emily Eden further notes that he became a patron of architecture, as well as something of a religious chameleon: 'he built this church, which is a very curious building [...] and within sight of it there is a mosque which he has also built, because he said that one way or the other he should be sure to go to heaven' (Eden 1866, p.96).

In 1815, Skinner became acquainted with the Fraser brothers on a military expedition in Nepal: in his account of the campaign, James Fraser recorded Skinner as a ‘very meritous and brave officer’ (Fraser 1820, p.101). So close was his friendship with William Fraser that they were buried side by side in Skinner's church in Delhi. It may have been William who inspired Skinner to become a patron of the arts (Sims-Williams 2014). Consequently, three of the known copies of his Tazkirat al-Umara are illustrated with portraits of Indian princes: these are the manuscripts in the British Library (acc.no.Add.27254), one in the Chester Beatty Library (acc.no.MS.33), and another sold in these Rooms, 16 July 2014, lot 39, since published by Bernard Quaritch (McBurney 2014). Though some portraits are in a traditional Mughal style, depicting their standing subjects in profile, some show them more naturalistically in interiors in a manner highly reminiscent of this painting. The trees in the background of this scene are very similar to those in the background of the painting of Thakur Bhup Singh of Daki in the Quaritch manuscript (McBurney, fig.13). A similar white marble jali also appears in the depiction of Balwant Singh of Bharatpur in the same manuscript (McBurney, fig.39). The similarities between the two suggest that a regular group of artists, trained in the Delhi style, executed Skinner's artistic commissions for him; as well as a dance troupe, he retained his own atelier. See the following lot for a further discussion of Skinner's patronage.