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CANNONS AND CEREMONY: THE TRIUMPHAL RECEPTION OF THE SEIKH GUNS AT CALCUTTA, 1847 - A Grand Imperial Engraving after William Tayler, Celebrating Victory at Sobraon

The Triumphal Reception of the Seikh Guns at Calcutta depicts a grand ceremonial presentation of captured Sikh cannons in British Calcutta. The scene takes place in early March 1847 on the Maidan in front of Government House, following the British... CANNONS AND CEREMONY: THE TRIUMPHAL RECEPTION OF THE SEIKH GUNS AT CALCUTTA, 1847 - A Grand Imperial Engraving after William Tayler, Celebrating Victory at Sobraon

The Triumphal Reception of the Seikh Guns at Calcutta depicts a grand ceremonial presentation of captured Sikh cannons in British Calcutta. The scene takes place in early March 1847 on the Maidan in front of Government House, following the British victory in the First Anglo-Sikh War. On 10 February 1846, the East India Company’s forces under Governor-General Sir Henry Hardinge and General Sir Hugh Gough defeated the Sikh Khalsa Army at Sobraon – a decisive battle of the war. In the aftermath, Hardinge ordered some 250 artillery pieces seized from the Sikhs to be transported hundreds of miles from the Punjab down to Calcutta, the colonial capital. When the trophy guns finally arrived in Calcutta in 1847, the colonial government staged an elaborate public celebration in honour of the triumph. As shown in Tayler’s print, triumphal arches were erected, and throngs of British officers, colonial officials, and Indian onlookers gathered to witness the display of imperial military success. The long line of bronze cannons dominates the composition, emphasising the scale of captured weaponry and the extent of British victory.

In the foreground, the key figures of the ceremony are depicted with portrait-like specificity. Contemporary descriptions and a printed key identify the central riders on horseback. Sir Herbert Maddock, the Deputy Governor of Bengal (acting in place of Hardinge), is shown at centre raising his hat in salute. To his side is Sir Harry Smith, the hero of the Battle of Aliwal (1846), who personally escorted the captured guns to Calcutta. On the right, near the entrance to Fort William, stands Colonel John Warren, commandant of Fort William, receiving the procession with military honours. Arrayed behind them are aides-de-camp and officers in full dress uniform, their swords and cuirasses gleaming in the sun. Notably, the image also includes prominent Indian figures among the spectators, underlining the event’s political inclusivity and propaganda value. For example, Prince Ghulam Mohammed (a son of Tipu Sultan of Mysore) and an exiled Amir of Sindh are recorded as present and are likely depicted in the gathering. Wealthy Indian merchants of Calcutta’s elite were invited as well – sources note that the Parsi businessman Seth Rustomjee Cowasjee and his family attended, with his daughter’s exquisitely embroidered cap and gown (adorned in diamonds and pearls) attracting awed commentary. The inclusion of Indian nobility and gentry in the composition symbolised a vision of imperial unity: loyal local allies joining the British in celebrating the subjugation of a former foe.

The iconography of the print is rich in imperial symbolism. Front and centre, a British officer ceremonially hands over a captured Sikh cannon, presenting it as a trophy of war. This act echoes the Roman tradition of displaying the vanquished enemy’s arms in triumph. The rows of Sikh guns – once fearsome weapons turned spoils – are deliberately showcased before the imposing façade of Government House, seat of colonial power. In the background, ranks of British infantry are drawn up in parade order with bayonets and colours, firing celebratory volleys and salutes. Military bands likely played, and saluting cannons boomed; indeed, the entire spectacle was accompanied by martial music, musketry, and cannon fire in a highly choreographed ritual of dominance. Such “triumphal reception” ceremonies were classic examples of 19th-century military spectacle, staged to project British valour and reinforce imperial prestige before both European and Indian audiences. Historian Scott Myerly notes that these public pageants of martial display – with their pomp and precise choreography – served to legitimise colonial authority and awe the local population. In Tayler’s print, the British victors occupy the literal and figurative centre, while the Indian onlookers (civilian gentlemen and sepoy aides) frame the scene, underscoring a message of empire: former adversaries subdued, allies co-opted, and the colonial order restored under British leadership.

Beyond its propagandistic imagery, the print has documentary value and artistic merit. William Tayler, an official in the Bengal Civil Service and an amateur artist, painted the original scene from life with great attention to detail. He later recounted the painting’s creation in his memoir Thirty-Eight Years in India (1881), indicating the personal importance of this work in his career. The published print, engraved by renowned printmakers Frederick and Charles Lewis, faithfully reproduces Tayler’s composition. Hand-coloring was applied to heighten the sense of occasion – British red coats, blue uniforms, and gilded cannon barrels would stand out – giving the print the vivid appearance of an eyewitness painting. The full title is printed below (missing in this lot); the image explicitly dedicates it to Gough and Hardinge, the commanding general and the governor-general, linking the artwork to those imperial heroes. Copies of this large print were likely purchased by officers and civilians as a commemorative piece, suitable for display in British drawing rooms in India and England. Indeed, the Illustrated London News reported on the Calcutta trophy parade in 1847, and Tayler’s monumental print can be seen as a deluxe artistic record of that same “triumphal reception of the Sikh guns” for those who wished to remember or glorify the event.

Multiple impressions of the print exist in museum and library collections. An early impression was presented to the Victoria Memorial by the Maharajadhiraja of Burdwan in 1904, and it remains in their collection. The National Army Museum (London) holds a photostat copy of the lithograph (acquired 1911) in its prints collection, attesting to the composition’s fame as a record of the 1846–47 events. It is also likely that the British Library and other archives of the Raj era have copies filed in their pictorial collections relating to the Anglo-Sikh Wars (the BL’s India Office collections include Tayler’s works). While the print itself was a commemorative publication, the original painting has been exhibited in the Victoria Memorial’s galleries as a notable historical artwork. References to the scene appear in modern scholarship on colonial visual culture – for instance, it is cited as a paradigmatic “military spectacle” in studies of British imperial pageantry. Overall, The Triumphal Reception of the Seikh Guns at Calcutta stands as both a valuable historical document and a collector’s piece, featured in institutional collections and literature that explore the iconography of British India’s military triumphs.

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