Punjab School, Shalimar Gardens, Lahore, Punjab – Early 19th-century watercolour painting

Punjab School Shalimar Gardens, Lahore, Punjab

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View the full Collection: Indian Company Paintings

An original early 19th-century watercolour painting – Punjab School, Shalimar Gardens, Lahore, Punjab.

This wonderful Punjab School watercolour is one of a trio of architectural subjects at Lahore.

The paintings are in the distinctive 19th-century Punjab School style, with delicate delineation in brown ink. The colouring is harmonious and relatively muted when compared with Company School style in general. The hand-painted border on each of the paintings is also distinctive, being gold paint with an outer red and blue line. A similar border can be seen on other Punjab School groups sold at Christie's and Bonhams.

In watercolour and ink with gold border on cream wove paper.

One of the paintings in the trio bears the paper watermark 'J&M 1829'.

Punjab School Paintings in the 19th Century

Art of the Punjab region of sub-Himalayan northern India was predominantly in the Pahari tradition, which developed and flourished during the 17th and 19th centuries under the patronage of the Sikh nobility. Within this, the delicate and lyrical Kangra style (named after the Kangra State, a former princely state of Himachal Pradesh) became synonymous with the school. The compositions have a rhythm and elegance, and it is the faces in particular that distinguishes the style, drawn with precise delicacy, bringing lyrical emotion to the scenes. In the 19th century, European influences crept in; the military prowess of Maharaja Ranjit Singh's Sikh empire brought a large number of Western visitors to the Lahore Court, which in turn brought new patronage and interest in Punjabi and Pahari art.