Rare Paintings
 7 Mar 2014 Rare Paintings
Receipt of the crude opium, Patna, ca.1857.
By Shiva Lal

Painting; gouache on mica.

This Company Painting (a painting made by an Indian artist for the British in India) is done on mica (talc) and comes from a series of nineteen illustrating processes in the manufacture of opium at the opium fac... Read More
 7 Mar 2014 Rare Paintings
Weighing of the opium, Patna, ca.1857.
By Shiva Lal

Painting; gouache on mica.

This Company Painting (a painting made by an Indian artist for the British in India) is done on mica (talc) and comes from a series of nineteen illustrating processes in the manufacture of opium at the opium factory ... Read More
 6 Mar 2014 Rare Paintings
“Opium Fleet Descending the Ganges on the Way to Calcutta”

“An Opium Fleet of native boats, conveying the drug to Calcutta. The fleet is passing the Monghyr Hills, and is preceded by small canoes, the crews of which sound the depth of water, and warn all boats out of the Channel by beat of drum,... Read More
 6 Mar 2014 Rare Paintings
“The Stacking Room, Opium Factory at Patna India”

“In the Stacking Room the balls are stacked before being packed in boxes for Calcutta en route to China. A number of boys are constantly engaged in stacking, turning, airing, and examining the balls. To clear them of mildew, moths or insects, the... Read More
 6 Mar 2014 Rare Paintings
“The Drying Room, Opium Factory at Patna India”

“In the Drying Room the balls are placed to dry before being stacked. Each ball is placed in a small earthenware cup. Men examine the balls, and puncture with a sharp style those in which gas, arising from fermentation, may be forming.”

- The Tru... Read More
 6 Mar 2014 Rare Paintings
“The Mixing Room, Opium Factory at Patna India”

“In the Mixing Room the contents of the earthen pans are thrown into vats and stirred with blind rakes until the whole mass becomes a homogeneous paste.”

- The Truth about Opium Smoking, 1882

Image:
Illustrations of the mode of preparing the Indi... Read More
 6 Mar 2014 Rare Paintings
“The Examining Hall, Opium Factory at Patna India”

“In the Examining Hall the consistency of the crude opium as brought from the country in earthen pans is simply tested, either by the touch, or by thrusting a scoop into the mass. A sample from each pot (the pots being numbered and labelled) is ... Read More
 5 Mar 2014 Rare Paintings
A busy balling room in the opium factory at Patna, India. Lithograph after W. S. Sherwill, c. 1850.

"Each ball-maker is furnished with a small table, a stool, and a brass cup to shape the ball in a certain quantity of opium and water called ‘Lewa,’ and an allowance of poppy petals, in which the... Read More
 5 Mar 2014 Rare Paintings
A busy examining hall in the opium factory at Patna, India. Lithograph after W. S. Sherwill, c. 1850.

Published: Maclure, Macdonald & Macgregor, London.

Credit: Wellcome Library, London Read More
 5 Mar 2014 Rare Paintings
"Papaver somniferum. Poppy-white or opium"

Coloured Print - 1853
By: M. A. Burnett after: Gilbert T. Burnett
Published: James Sangster & Co., London

Credit: Wellcome Library, London Read More
 5 Mar 2014 Rare Paintings
Watercolour painting with a pen and ink border of three men smoking opium. All three men are seated on the ground; the one on the far right wears only a loincloth and a white shawl. He has small tufts of hair on his head, and is in the process of smoking from the pipe. He faces the other two men ... Read More
 4 Mar 2014 Rare Paintings
A maiden anointing a shrine
Bengal School, early 20th Century

Watercolour on paper, signed in monogram lower left, in mount - 27.5 x 18 cm.

Source: Bonhams Read More
 4 Mar 2014 Rare Paintings
Circle of George Chinnery (British, 1774-1852)

A landscape, probably in Bengal, with a mansion in classical style in the distance, peasants and cattle in the foreground, early 19th Century.

Oil on canvas

Source: Bonhams Read More
 4 Mar 2014 Rare Paintings
A wedding party seated under a canopy, with an officiating priest and musicians to the left.

Company School, probably Bengal, circa 1840
Watercolour on European watermarked paper, framed
310 x 420 mm.

Source: Bonhams Read More
 4 Mar 2014 Rare Paintings
George Chinnery R.H.A. (British, 1774-1852)

A Bengal hut
Watercolour

Source: Bonhams Read More
 3 Mar 2014 Rare Paintings
A View of the Tryal of Warren Hastings Esqr. before the Court of Peers
By Robert Pollard, by Francis Jukes, after Edward Dayes
Etching and aquatint, published 1789

© National Portrait Gallery, London Read More
 3 Mar 2014 Rare Paintings
'The political-banditti assailing the saviour of India'
By James Gillray
Published by William Holland
Hand-coloured etching, published 11 May 1786

© National Portrait Gallery, London Read More
 27 Feb 2014 Rare Paintings
Pahari school miniature painting
Punjab Hills, 19th Century

Framed and glazed; opaque water colors on paper; circa 1840-1850, finely detailed depicting Shiva and Parvati with Ganesha and Skanda happily seated together upon a tiger rug on Mount Kailasa, Shiva's matted hair encircling them and for... Read More
 27 Feb 2014 Rare Paintings
Illustration to a Krishna Rukmini series: Krishna and Shiva meet.

Garhwal, circa 1840

Opaque watercolor and gold on paper; Krishna drawn in chariot with attendants and soldiers meeting Siva approaching on Nandi. The foreground is littered with slain combatants.

Image: 8 7/8 x 12 1/4 in. (22.6 ... Read More
 27 Feb 2014 Rare Paintings
Miniature painting of a woman who is performing Linga puja.

1750 - 1800 ca.

India

Source: Rijksmuseum Read More
 27 Feb 2014 Rare Paintings
Lord Cornwallis receiving the Sons of Tippoo Saib as Hostages

The General at left, approaching the two scared children of the Sultan at right, as their minder smiles and gestures them forward; in frame with an urn and swag above; after William Marshall Craig, illustration from 'A New History of ... Read More