Indian Company School, Taj Mahal, Agra – Early 19th-century watercolour painting
Indian Company School, Taj Mahal, Agra – Early 19th-century watercolour painting
Indian Company School, Taj Mahal, Agra – Early 19th-century watercolour painting
Indian Company School, Taj Mahal, Agra – Early 19th-century watercolour painting

Indian Company School Taj Mahal, Agra

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An original early 19th-century watercolour painting – Indian Company School, Taj Mahal, Agra.

An exquisite Indian Company painting showing the iconic facade of the Taj Mahal at Agra. The artist depicts the definitive domed white marble mausoleum, whilst also taking in the Yamuna River, a major tributary of the Ganges. This angled vantage point creates a more naturalistic view, which suggests the influence of Western painting styles and use of perspective.

In the 18th century, the bejewelled tomb of the Taj Mahal was plundered, and by the 19th century the complex was suffering from neglect and disrepair—a fact that this exacting drawing belies. Near the end of the 19th century, Lord Curzon, then British viceroy of India, ordered a major restoration of the mausoleum complex as part of a colonial effort to preserve India’s artistic and cultural heritage.

This painting is a fine example of an Indian Company painting, produced for Western (especially British) patrons in India in the 19th century, many of whom were working for the East India Company. It displays the striking hybrid techniques which led to the categorisation of the 'Company' style as a School. While incorporating traditional elements from Rajput and Mughal painting, they were given a more 'western' appearance through their use of perspective and rounded modelling, as opposed to the more decorative, 'flatter' styles that had gone before.

In watercolour on cream wove paper with hand-drawn black ink border.

Inscribed on the verso: 'Small View of the Taj Building only' [in ink] and 'View of merely the Taj' [in pencil].

+ Read the S&W Collection Research

Indian Company Paintings

'Company School' refers to a variety of hybrid styles that came about through the influence of Western (especially British) patrons on Indian artists in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Finding traditional, stylised Indian painting not to their taste, these patrons began to collect works that, while incorporating traditional elements from Rajput and Mughal painting were given a more 'western' appearance through their use of perspective and rounded modelling, as opposed to the more decorative, 'flatter' styles that had gone before.

The Company style evolved to meet this demand: as many of their collectors worked for the East India Company, these paintings became associated with the name. Leading centres of the Company style were the main British settlements of Calcutta, Madras (Chennai), Delhi, Lucknow and Patna.

Europeans commissioned sets of images depicting festivals and scenes from Indian life, with people of different castes or trades being particular favourite subjects, as well as dancers and musicians. Collectors were particularly attracted to what were perceived to be the exotic customs, costumes and architecture of their adopted—and in many cases temporary—homeland. Paintings were mostly on paper, and most were small, reflecting the Indian miniature tradition and the intention that they would be kept in portfolios or albums.

Sadly there is little information about the identity of the numerous and flourishing ‘Company School’ artists; indeed Company School (or Kampani kalam) has been criticised as a term for defining a diverse body of works by the identity of its patrons rather than the talented Indian artists by which they are painted. These paintings resonate with fascinating and important questions and contradictions of cultural exchange.

COA
+ Artwork Details

Dimensions: Height: 12cm (4.72") Width: 18.8cm (7.4")

Presented: Unframed.

Medium: Watercolour

Age: Early 19th-century

Signed: No.

Inscribed: Inscribed verso.

Dated: --

Condition: Some faint marks and age toning, more pronounced on the verso. There is a 1.5cm repaired tear to the upper edge of the sheet. Please see photos for detail.

Stock number: KC-832