Lot 58 Details

Absolute Tuesdays: Old Maps and Vintage Prints 13 February 2024

J Harris after Henry Martens from a sketch by Major G F White

Night Bivouac of ...

Original hand-coloured aquatint on paper

View Dimensions Print size: 18.8 x 24 in (48 x 61 cm)
Sheet size: 21 x 27.5 in (53.5 x 70 cm)
With mount: 27.5 x 33.8 in (70 x 86 cm)

From the series of ten works titled Celebrated Engagements of the British Army During the Sikh Wars, depicting a battle during Sikh War between the East India Company and the Sikh Khalsa Army.

The Anglo-Sikh wars were a series of conflicts between the Sikh Empire and the British East India Company during the 1840s, that resulted in the fall of the Sikh Empire and conquest of the Punjab. The Battles of Moodkee (18 December 1845), Ferozshah (21-22 December 1845) and Aliwal (28 January 1846) formed part of the First Anglo-Sikh War, whilst the Battles of Ramnuggur (22 November 1848), Chillienwallah (13 January 1849) and Googerat (21 February 1849) formed part of the Second Anglo-Sikh War.

"An etching with aquatint showing exhausted British East India Company troops sleeping in rows and scattered about the foreground of a battlefield: with Governor-General Lord Henry Hardinge and General Sir Hugh Gough with several officers, mounted and on foot, in the middle ground; with fires burning in the distance. Lettered below. Representing the night following the first day of battle at Ferozeshah, in the Punjab (north west India) between the British and the Sikh Kalsa army, during the First Anglo-Sikh War of 1845-6.

The Maharaja Ranjit Singh had held sway over the Sikh Empire of the Punjab, in north west India, since 1799. He had upheld cordial relations with the East India Company, who held territories adjoining the Punjab, while maintaining the fearsome professionally trained Khalsa army of around 60,000 men. When he died in 1839, no statesman or military figure emerged to take his place and the Sikh empire became increasingly disordered. In September 1845 Sir Henry Hardinge, Governor-General of the Bengal Presidency, received reports that the Khalsa were preparing to invade British territory. He despatched 5,000 extra troops to the region south of the Sutlej river, the border between the Sikh and British territories. It was believed that the future of British India depended on the defeat of Raja Lal Singh's Khalsa army, the equal of the British in training, discipline and weaponry.

On 18 December 1845 the advance guard of Raja Lal Singh's Khalsa army had been defeated at the Battle of Mudki. The Khalsa retreated and regrouped at Ferozeshah where they were sighted on 21 December by the British, commanded by General Sir Hugh Gough. An artillery duel ensued, with the heavier Sikh guns inflicting many casualties. Gough stuck to his habitual tactic in ordering persistent offensives, repeatedly storming the Ferozeshah defences at the cost of casualties unprecedented in any previous Indian campaign. As evening fell Sir Harry Smith's British batallions launched a renewed attack, penetrating the Sikh encampment, before being driven back by counter-attacks. The survivors of the offensive spent the bitterly cold night in the open, as shown in this etching. By dawn it became apparent that the British actually held most of the camp, and by noon Raja Lal Singh's army had been driven from the field. The Sikh General Tej Singh might have routed the depleted British force with a Khalsa counter-attack, but inexplicably, he retired and Gough's army could claim a costly British victory. For a print showing the second day of battle.

This etching was produced after a painting by Henry Martens, which was in turn based upon drawings by Major George Francis White. White served in India between 1825 and 1846, with the 31st Regiment of Foot. He was an amateur artist as well as author and illustrator of 'Views in India Chiefly among the Himalyas', 1886-7. The Tate Gallery hold some of his drawings." (Source: Royal Collection Trust)

This work will be shipped unframed

NON-EXPORTABLE

Winning bid
$1,012
Rs 84,000
(Inclusive of buyer's premium)