Page 131 - ART OF THE ISLAMIC AND INDIAN WORLDS Carpets, Ceramics Objects, Christie's London Oct..27, 2022

107
A LARGE PORTRAIT OF LAL SINGH,
VIZIER TO MAHARAJA DULEEP SINGH
ATTRIBUTED TO AUGUST SCHOEFFT,
PAKISTAN OR EUROPE, CIRCA 1840
Oil on canvas, half length, wearing a bright yellow
turban, a goshawk resting on his gloved hand, a
domed building in the background, in gilt wooden
frame
29½ x 24in. (75 x 61cm.);
framed 39⅜ x 33¼in. (100 x 84.5cm.)
£30,000-50,000 US$35,000-57,000
€35,000-57,000

PROVENANCE:
By repute Maharajah Duleep Singh and his family,
from circa 1863
Indian Art Online: Painting the Maharaja, Christie's,
18-25 May 2017, lot 23
UK Private Collection
INSCRIPTIONS:
hand-written label to the reverse of the frame
[Portrait of Lall Sing | favourite minister of | the
Ranee Regent | widow of Ranjit Singh.]

Originally a shopkeeper, Lal Singh (d.1866)
entered Sikh government in 1832. Under the
patronage of the powerful Dogras, Lal Singh
rapidly grew his power, eventually becoming tutor
of the young Duleep Singh who had come to the
throne following the death of Ranjit Singh. In this
role he would align with Maharani Jind Kaur, the
youngest widow of Ranjit Singh and regent, going
on to become her closest advisor and leader of
the Khalsa army in the First Anglo-Sikh War.
106
During the war the two would actually conspire
HANUMAN EXPLORES THE GOLDEN CITY with the British, seeing it as an opportunity to
CHAMBA, NORTH INDIA, 1800-1810 reduce the power of the ever more rebellious
An illustration to the Ramayana, opaque pigments heightened with gold and This scene shows Hanuman exploring the city of Lanka, home of the evil Khalsa. After the war, Lal Singh became Vizier for
silver on paper, set within a dark blue border with white and red rules and a Ravana who has abducted Sita. Protected by golden rampart and powerful Lahore, although he would later fall from grace.
red margin, the reverse with 22ll. black devanagari and the number '2' in blue rakhasas, the god must reduce his usually mighty form to that of a cat and After a trial by the British, he was found guilty
pencil
stealthily enter at night guided by moon and stars. The Goddess of Lanka, and sentenced to exile in Agra taking up surgery
Painting 8w x 12æin. (22.5 x 32.3cm.); folio 10q x 14qin.(26.7 x 36.9cm.)
a deity that manifests as a demon and protects the city, bans Hanuman and archaeology as hobbies until his death.
£15,000-20,000 US$18,000-23,000 from entry finding his given reasons for entry unsatisfactory forcing the god The Hungarian painter August Theodor Schoefft
€18,000-23,000 to physically overcome the demon, injuring but not killing her. She reveals (1809-88) initially travelled to India via Turkey and
a prophecy to Brahma that when she is overcome physically by a monkey, Iran advertising in local newspapers and making
PROVENANCE: the titans guarding the city will no longer be invincible and the city will fall. a healthy living from painting portraits including
Formerly in the collection of Dr Alma Latifi, CIE, OBE (1879-1959), London This allows Hanuman to enter the city though the front gate and explore the that of Bahadur Shah Zafar II at Agra, the last
city, entering even the zenana and chambers of the demon king Ravana. Our Mughal Emperor. Yet it was in Lahore that
This delightful illustration is part of a known Ramayanaseries of 15 paintings illustration serves as a continuous narrative to this episode and the monkey Schoefft would receive his most lavish patronage.
attributed to Chamba in the early 19 century by Jeremiah Losty. The god is shown five time in his attempts to locate Sita, in one instance only his Staying just more than a year, Schoefft took
th
architecture is particularly distinctive, with individual bricks and mortar tail being visible! numerous sketches and portraits of prominent
carefully depicted. This is similar to the Sudama-Charitaseries of 1775-90 courtiers. These include a well-known portrait
from Garhwal, yet the treatment of landscape and oceans is very close to that Dr Alma Latifi, a prominent member of the Indian civil service, collected of Sher Singh, sat bejewelled wearing the Koh-i Intriguingly this would mean the execution of Government of Pakistan. These are now housed in
found in Chamba. The Chamba Aranya Kanda of 1780-85 is again similar but Indian works of art from the 1930s until the 1950s. He amassed a large noor diamond, of which versions exist now in the the work occurred just as the proud figure in the the Lahore Fort Museum as the Princess Bamba
the present series lacks a little of the earlier refinement. Hence 1800-1810 is collection of Indian art but predominantly paintings. Some of these were Bamba Collection, Lahore, and Toor Collection portrait was seeing his power evaporate. Collection and include the aforementioned portrait
suggested as it allows enough time for Garhwali stylistic influence to be felt loaned to the Royal Academy, London, for their exhibition The Art of India and (Davinder Toor, In Pursuit of Empire, London, A number of Schoefft’s works would eventually of Sher Sing and Schoefft’s famous work ‘The
following the flight of artists from Garhwal to Chamba to escape the Gurkha Pakistan, 1947-48. 2018, pp.138-141). The present painting captures end up in the collection of Duleep Singh when Court of Lahore’ c.1850-55). Another painting by
conquest of 1804 (Simon Ray and Jeremiah Losty, 15 Paintings Depicting the Lal Singh in around 1841, at the beginning of his exiled in England, passing then to his daughter Schoefft of a group of thugs preparing to strangle
Adventures of Hanuman on Lanka from the Ramayana, Simon Ray Ltd, 2016.) ascent to power, yet it is entirely feasible that, like Princess Bamba Jindan. Moving back to Lahore, a lone Sikh warrior (c.1843-45) was sold in these
Another painting from this series was sold in Christie’s New York, 23 March many of Schoefft’s works, it was painted from his the Princess bequeathed many of her works Rooms, 07 October 2009, lot 144, and is now in
2022, lot 475. sketches once back in his Budapest studio. to her secretary, who in turn sold them to the the Toor Collection (op.cit., pp.148-151).

128 In addition to the hammer price, a Buyer’s Premium (plus VAT) is payable. Other taxes and/or an Artist Resale Royalty 129
fee are also payable if the lot has a tax or λ symbol. Check Section D of the Conditions of Sale at the back of this catalogue.