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Not currently on display at the V&A

Painting

ca. 1835 - ca. 1840 (made)
Artist/Maker
Unknown
Place of origin
Punjab Plains (made)

The painting depicts a Sikh sardar receiving petitions on a terrace. He has been identified as Lehna (=Lahina) Singh Majithia by W.G. Archer, in his book Paintings of the Sikhs (HMSO, London, 1966, p. 142). Lahina Singh Majithia was a highly talented member of the court entourage of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the first Sikh ruler of the Panjab (r. 1801-1839). The painting was probably done in Lahore or Amritsar, the major cities of the kingdom, between about 1835 and 1840.


Object details

Categories
Paintings
Sikhism
Portraits
Bonita Trust Indian Paintings Cataloguing Project
Object type
Painting
Materials and techniques
Painted in opaque water-colour and gold on paper
Opaque Watercolour
Gold
Paper
Paint
Painted
Brief description
Painting, Sikh sardar receiving petitions, opaque watercolour and gold on paper, Punjab Plains, ca. 1835-40
Physical description
Painting, in opaque water-colour and gold on paper, a Sikh sardar, possibly Lahina Singh Majithia, wearing a white turban, white dress and yellow trousers, with a black shield strapped to his back, sits on a carpeted terrace facing left. He holds a rosary in his hands. To the left is a secretary with white beard reading out a petition. In the bottom left are ten soldiers in red, blue, green and yellow, handing up petitions. On either side of the terrace are blossoming trees.
Dimensions
  • Height: 309mm (maximum)
  • Width: 271mm (maximum)
  • Image within innermost painted borders height: 247mm
  • Image within innermost painted borders width: 210mm (maximum)
27/07/2013 dimensions measured as part of Indian Paintings Cataloguing Project 2013; object and painted borders irregular in shape
Content description
A Sikh sardar, possibly Lehna Singh Majithia, wearing a white turban, white dress and yellow trousers, with a black shield strapped to his back, sits on a carpeted terrace facing left. He holds a rosary in his hands.
Marks and inscriptions
  • (According to Archer, p. 142, this is the reading of the Gurmukhi inscription in pencil on the left border.)
    Transliteration
    'rai chanda bhuti'
  • 'Diwan Ramchand' (inscribed on border in pencil)
  • 'Sirdar Uttar Singh' (inscribed on border in pencil)
Object history
Bought from Maggs, London, in 1960 as part of a group (IS.36-43-1960) for £95.00. RF 60/1590
Production
Sikh
Subjects depicted
Noble
Rosary
Petition
Trees
Rosary
Terrace
Summary
The painting depicts a Sikh sardar receiving petitions on a terrace. He has been identified as Lehna (=Lahina) Singh Majithia by W.G. Archer, in his book Paintings of the Sikhs (HMSO, London, 1966, p. 142). Lahina Singh Majithia was a highly talented member of the court entourage of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the first Sikh ruler of the Panjab (r. 1801-1839). The painting was probably done in Lahore or Amritsar, the major cities of the kingdom, between about 1835 and 1840.
Bibliographic references
  • Paintings of the Sikhs / W.G. Archer. London: H. M. Stationery Office, 1966 cat. 19, fig. 36 and pp. 20-21. For a brief note on Lahina Singh Majithia, see Harbans Singh, ed., The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism, Volume Two, p. 542
  • Stronge, S. (Ed.) "The Arts of the Sikh Kingdoms", V&A, 1999 p.55, Pl. 53 and p. 221, Cat. 95 Susan Stronge, ed., The Arts of the Sikh Kingdoms, V&A 1999,
  • Stronge, S. "The Arts of the Sikh Kingdoms", V&A, 1999 p. 55, pl. 53, p. 221, cat. no. 95
Collection
South & South East Asia Collection
Accession number
IS.43-1960

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Record createdMay 31, 2002
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O65767/painting-unknown/
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