EDWIN LORD WEEKS (1849-1903)

Edwin Lord Weeks’ visit to Ahmedabad was one of the highlights of his first trip to India. Ahmedabad was the largest city in the state of Gujarat and as such was filled with ceremony and tradition which would have caught Weeks' eye. We know this celebratory subject in particular appealed to Weeks because the same carriage and festively dressed oxen appear in several other of his paintings, including A Wedding Procession before a Palace in Rajasthan and A Wedding Carriage. The former was executed in Ahmedabad in November 1882, suggesting that the present grisaille stems from that date, making it one of the earliest compositions by Weeks from this region.

The scene in this grisaille shows a Hindu bride being escorted to her wedding ceremony at another location. The Cutch oxen, a famous breed of cattle from Gujarat, wear beautifully ornate silver-plated harnesses and pull a gharry, a typical carriage. Elaborate and detailed, the painting has a photographic, highly finished quality.

Weeks' grisailles were done exclusively for many illustrations in his book and for illustrating magazine articles – they were not preparations for larger color paintings. Striking for their exacting detail, Weeks created an impression of India that was simultaneously veristic and romantically alluring. It is for this reason that on Weeks’ third trip to India in 1892, he was accompanied by the journalist Theodore Child who was to write a series of articles on their travels with illustrations by the artist.

The authenticity of this painting has previously been confirmed by Dr. Ellen K. Morris.