Page 289 - Eye of the beholder

His work was first recognized in the autumn of 1854 when his print of the Battle of the Alma was advertised. This was followed by prints of the Battle of the Inkerman and the Battle of the Balaclava, all for Ackermann's. This company's ‘Eclipse Sporting’ and ‘Military Gallery’ served as an outlet for many of the artist's watercolors. Ackermann's satisfaction with Norie’s work led them to occasionally profile him in exhibitions, one of which was staged in 1873. Today, many of his pictures can be seen in British regimental museums and clubs.
According to Anirban Sadhu the Collector, “I bought this painting in 2010 from a provincial English auction called Toovey’s early on in my collecting career when my focus was on colonial Indian paintings. Prices for Norie’s pictures haven’t appreciated much, but have remained steady. Collectors of military history covet his pictures. However, very few of the new collectors in India are aware of Orlando Norie and his works which is a pity, because Orlando Norie is certainly one of the foremost painters associated with an eventful period in modern Indian history”.
Painted in 1884, it mostly makes reference to the events of the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857. The Sepoy mutiny remained alive in popular public imagination in England long after it was over in India. In the years after the mutiny, many prominent British officers recounted their experiences in memoirs which were later published as books. It is likely that this painting is a dramatized image of a certain episode from one such memoir.
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