Lot 137: Sita Ram, circa 1814-1815

Sita Ram, circa 1814-1815
The Moti Masjid (Pearl Mosque) within the Red Fort, Agra
with erroneous inscription 'South Gate of the fort at Agra' (on the backing sheet, overmounted)
pencil and watercolour, fragmentary watermark
15¼ x 24 in. (38.5 x 61 cm.)

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 15% on the buyer's premium
Between 1814 and 1815 Sita Ram accompanied the Marquess of Hastings, Governor General of Bengal (1813-1822), from Calcutta to Delhi and back serving as topographical painter to his wife, Lady Hastings. As they travelled across the country he recorded what he saw in 230 watercolours mounted in 10 albums. The present watercolour was originally part of Vol. IX, which was dispersed in 1974. Another watercolour, probably from the same album, depicting The Taj Mahal, was sold in these Rooms, 24 September 2003, lot 119.

Arguably 'the most brilliant and versatile Indian artist of his time' (J.K. Bautze, Indian and Western Painting 1780-1910, Virginia, 1998, p. 309) Sita Ram is renowned as being the first Indian artist to fully explore the techniques of British artists such as William Hodges and the Daniell brothers who lived and worked in India at that time. The present watercolour illustrates the artist's unique ability to combine influences from Indian miniaturist techniques, such as the use of multiple perspectives, with the English picturesque style, visible in the subtle but atmospheric tonal variations.