
Matthew Thomas
Senior Specialist
Sold for £4,312.50 inc. premium
Our Islamic and Indian Art specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.
Find your local specialist
Senior Specialist
The insignia on the saddle, VIII LC, refers to the 8th (Madras) Light Cavalry, a unit raised in 1804 and added to a formation founded in the mid-18th Century. Unusually for works by Shaykh Muhammad Amir of Karraya, the scene pictured is outside Calcutta. The reason for this may be the transfer of Madras cavalry units to the Bengal military establishment, which is known to have taken place in 1837. This painting therefore seems to adapt the more civilian-oriented Calcutta-based depictions of horses and grooms produced by the artist, in order to mark the arrival of a Madras unit, with a reminder of their origin in the landscape background.