
Dora Tan
Head of Sale, Specialist
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Sold for US$8,925 inc. premium
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Head of Sale, Specialist

International Director
This finely painted miniature shows two ladies with a wine flask and cup standing together against a stone-blue background, one with her arm around the other. The artist has taken exemplary care to render the purple transparent gauze worn over the shoulders and waist of the near maiden, and the white gauze covering the bodice of the far maiden. The composition's oval frame adopts the popular format for European portrait miniatures.
Published:
Maggs Bros. Ltd., "Bulletin No. 5: Oriental Miniatures & Illumination", London, April 1963, p.101, no.98.
Provenance:
Collection of Sir Charles Forbes, 1st Baronet (1774-1849), acquired in India, c.1790
Collection of Col. Sir John Forbes, DSO, DL, Bt.
Sotheby's, London, 10 December 1962, lot 3
Maggs Bros. Ltd., London
Collection of F. S. Aijazuddin
Sir Charles Forbes left his native Scotland for India when he was just sixteen to assume the reigns of Forbes & Company Ltd, founded by his uncle in 1767, which is one of the oldest companies in the world still in business. His name ranked high in the commercial world for ability, foresight, and rectitude of character. Back home, he became a member of parliament and was one of the earliest advocates for the inclusion of women as representatives in the House of Commons. In India, he was distinguished for his philanthropy. He knew the people intimately and spent a large portion of his fortune in their midst. In parliament and in the proprietors' court of the East India Company his advocacy of justice for India was ardent and untiring. One of his last acts was the appropriation of a very large sum of money to procure for the inhabitants of Bengal a plentiful supply of pure water in all seasons. The portrait of Sir Charles Forbes that stands in the Asiatic Society of Mumbai Town Hall represents the first instance on record when the people of India raised a statue to anyone unconnected with the civil or military service of the country. (Adapted from Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, vol.19., pp.380-1.)