Painting
19th century (made)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
Two men walk across a landscape, dressed in white loincloths, white turban bands and black and white shawls. They carry forked sticks. The painting is typical of works done in the Punjab, the region now divided between India and Pakistan, in the 1840s. The men are cultivators, and probably Jats, who widely converted to Sikhism. Their cut hair suggests that these men were Hindus, as conventional portraiture of the time makes a clear distinction between Sikh men with their uncut hair gathered into a topknot underneath their turban, and Hindus or Muslims, whose cut hair is usually shown underneath any head covering.
Object details
Categories | |
Object type | |
Materials and techniques | Painted in opaque watercolour on paper |
Brief description | Painting, two cultivators, opaque watercolour on paper, Punjab Plain, 19th century |
Physical description | Painting, in opaque watercolour on paper, two cultivators dressed in white loincloths, white turban bands and black and white shawls, walk across a field, each carrying a forked stick. |
Dimensions |
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Content description | Two cultivators, dressed in white loincloths, white turban bands and black and white shawls, walk across a field, each carrying a forked stick. |
Marks and inscriptions | Inscribed on reverse in Persian characters, and in English in pencil: "For .... book". |
Object history | IS.477 to 489-1950 were purchased for £5 in 1950. |
Production | Sikh |
Subjects depicted | |
Summary | Two men walk across a landscape, dressed in white loincloths, white turban bands and black and white shawls. They carry forked sticks. The painting is typical of works done in the Punjab, the region now divided between India and Pakistan, in the 1840s. The men are cultivators, and probably Jats, who widely converted to Sikhism. Their cut hair suggests that these men were Hindus, as conventional portraiture of the time makes a clear distinction between Sikh men with their uncut hair gathered into a topknot underneath their turban, and Hindus or Muslims, whose cut hair is usually shown underneath any head covering. |
Bibliographic reference | Paintings of the Sikhs / W.G. Archer. London: H. M. Stationery Office, 1966
cat. 30 (ii), p. 157, and illus. fig. 77. |
Collection | |
Accession number | IS.488-1950 |
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Record created | November 21, 2002 |
Record URL |
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