Rare Paintings
 13 Jan 2012 Rare Paintings
A bangle-seller in his shop at Pune by William carpenter - 1805

William Carpenter (ca.1818-1899) travelled through India from 1850-1857 painting portraits and pictures of rulers and their courts and Indian scenery. He travelled to Calcutta via Bombay and Sri Lanka and then up to Delhi and the ... Read More
 13 Jan 2012 Rare Paintings
A glass-bangle-seller and his wife. From an album of 36 paintings of trades, occupations and costume depicting a man and his wife of various castes, against background of palm trees and other trees - 1805.
Marks and inscriptions

Inscribed: Valayacaren or a Gentoo Merchant that sells Glass Orn... Read More
 12 Jan 2012 Rare Paintings
View from the fort of Pratapgarh - 1850

Water-colour painting of the view from the fort of Pratapgarh by William Carpenter(1818-1899) in 1850. The image is inscribed: 'The Ghats Mahableshwur seen from the fortress of Pertabghur Nvr/50' which is repeated on reverse.

Pratapgarh fort was built... Read More
 9 Jan 2012 Rare Paintings
Bullock shigram travelling between Poonah, Canmpoolee and Panwell, Western India, ca.1870.

One of twenty-one drawings of various types of indigenous conveyance in Poona showing side view and section. Pen, ink and watercolour.

Source: V&A, London Read More
 9 Jan 2012 Rare Paintings
Courtyard of a house in Pune by William Carpenter, painting, watercolor on paper, India, 1850. A class is in progress under the veranda of the ground floor.

William Carpenter was in India from 1850 t0 1856, during which time he travelled extensively from Bombay (Mumbai) and across western Indi... Read More
 8 Jan 2012 Rare Paintings
Mosque on the bank of the River Gumti near Lucknow by William Orme - 1805

William Orme, who was active from about 1795 to 1819, was born in Manchester and was almost certainly the younger brother of Daniel Orme (also born in Manchester), and older brother of Edward Orme. An early watercolour b... Read More
 8 Jan 2012 Rare Paintings
Taj Mahal from the Garden, Agra by William Simpson, waterolour on paper, India, 1864.

Simpson, William (1823-1899). Painter and lithographer. Simpson was apprenticed to a lithographer in Glasgow and in 1851 came to London where he made views of the Great Exhibition. He became well known for hi... Read More
 7 Jan 2012 Rare Paintings
View of the Qutb Minar in Delhi shows the cupola added in 1828 and removed in 1848 - ca.1836.

This Company painting depicts the Qutb Minar, a fluted red sandstone tower covered with carvings and inscribed with verses from the Koran. The Qutb Minar was started in 1199 as the victory tower of Qu... Read More
 7 Jan 2012 Rare Paintings
View of the Taj Mahal painted from the gateway. Trees in the foreground on either side of the path leading to the Taj by William Carpenter - 1852.

William Carpenter was trained at the Royal Academy Schools, and was the eldest son of the distinguished portrait painter Margaret Sarah Carpenter a... Read More
 6 Jan 2012 Rare Paintings
Front view of Thaligai Temple - 1900

Photograph of the Thali Temple, Malabar District, Calicut Taluk, Kerala, taken by a photographer of the Archaeological Survey of India around 1900-01.

Kozhikkode Thali is very ancient Siva temple complex which dates back to the Zamorin rule. The temple was r... Read More
 5 Jan 2012 Rare Paintings
This painting depicts Rameshwaram Temple by an unknown artist - 1860
Gouache on mica.

Source: V&A, London Read More
 5 Jan 2012 Rare Paintings
An architectural watercolour, mainly sepia, of a colonnade in the Rameshwaram Temple - 1840

Inscribed: Colonnade in the Pagoda of Ramisseram 220 yds long. Drawn by Lieuts Jenkins and Whelpdale and Ravanat Naig.

It would appear that in the transfer of 1879 these five drawings became separated fr... Read More
 4 Jan 2012 Rare Paintings
Interior of the Golden Temple, Amritsar by William Carpenter, watercolour on paper, India, 1854.

This image shows the richly decorated interior of the Golden Temple. Worshippers are gathered around the Guru Granth Sahib, the sacred book of the Sikhs which, rests on a red cushion. Through his u... Read More
 4 Jan 2012 Rare Paintings
A painting depicting Tara Chand, the Court Painter at Udaipur. A seated bearded man wearing a turban and traditional Indian dress resting a drawing board on his knee. His two children, also in traditional dress, are standing next to him. By William Carpenter (1818-99), painting, watercolour on pa... Read More
 4 Jan 2012 Rare Paintings
Interior of the Neminath temple, Dilwara, Mount Abu by William Carpenter, Painting, watercolour on paper, India, 1851.

William Carpenter was the eldest son of the distinguished portrait painter Margaret Sarah Carpenter and of William Hookham Carpenter, who became Keeper of the Prints and Drawi... Read More
 3 Jan 2012 Rare Paintings
This carved marble relief depicts a remarkable vista of Sammeta-Sikhara, the Peak of Wisdom - 19th century

This carved marble relief depicts a remarkable vista of Sammeta-Sikhara, the Peak of Wisdom. It is the most holy of pilgrimage places for members of the Jain religious community. Jains of... Read More
 3 Jan 2012 Rare Paintings
The Bull Nandi in the courtyard of the Golden Temple, Benares by william Simpson - 1864

William Simpson was commissioned to go to India by his employers, Day and Sons, the London lithography firm. Having established his reputation by documenting the Crimean war in 1854, he was instructed to sk... Read More
 2 Jan 2012 Rare Paintings
The Mysore Procession Painting
Thursday, November 25th, 2010

Rembrandt’s Night Watch includes portraits of 18 people. But the Mysore procession painting in the first room of the exhibition introduces us to over 1,250 individuals, each with a particular look and dress. How could a single artis... Read More
 2 Jan 2012 Rare Paintings
Mysore Procession Painting

This detail of a scroll painting probably painted in Mysore in about 1820 shows Krishnaraja Wadiyar, Raja of Mysore (r.1799-1868) on an elephant leading a religious procession in honour of the god Shiva. (He was formerly misidentified as Raja Serfoji of Tanjore (1777-1... Read More
 1 Jan 2012 Rare Paintings
Rabindranath Tagore: Poet and Painter, V&A, Review
The Telegraph - 13 Dec 2011

Sameer Rahim reviews an exhibition of paintings by the Bengali poet and polymath Rabindranath Tagore at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

The poet, novelist and songwriter Rabindranath Tagore was the renaissance man of... Read More
 1 Jan 2012 Rare Paintings
Digital Rare Book :
Gitanjali and Fruit-Gathering
By Sir Rabindranath Tagore
With Illustrations by Nandalal Bose, Surendranath Kar, Abanindranath Tagore and Nobendranath Tagore
Published by The Macmillan & Co., New York - 1918 Read More