
Matthew Thomas
Senior Specialist





Sold for £3,812.50 inc. premium
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Senior Specialist
Provenance
Christie's, Art of the Islamic and Indian Worlds, 26th April 2012, lot 354 (eight paintings).
The subjects are as follows:
A Brahman yogi.
A Sannyasi.
A bhakit or tiliya-raja.
A Dadu-Panthi.
A Bairagi.
These five paintings are from the same group of thirty paintings, probably intended for an album (lots 354-357 in the above mentioned sale). They were executed in Delhi in imitation of works commissioned by Colonel James Skinner, founder of the two regiments of Skinner's Horse. He composed a number of texts in Persian, including Tashrih al-aqvam, which dealt with the myriad sects and castes found in India, both religious figures and tradespeople. These paintings, of which there were 110, were produced circa 1825. For examples of two, and a discussion of the album, see J. P. Losty, M. Roy, Mughal India: Art, Culture and Empire, London 2012, pp. 225-226, figs. 159 and 160.