Add Or 1815

Ghazi al-Din Haidar (Nawab and, after 1819, King of Oudh, 1814-27) entertaining Lord and Lady Moira to a banquet in his palace. Paintings of horses, mirrors and girandoles decorate the walls and above the window is the coat of arms of the kings of Oudh. The river Gumti is seen through the door.

By a Lucknow artist, c.1814 [in fact, after 1819, since the Nawab is crowned].

Inscribed on original mount: ‘From Lucknow.’

Gouache; 13.5 by 18.75 ins.

Purchased 4 March 1961.

Note: Lord Moira (Governor-General of Fort William 1813-23, [and from 1816, the Marquess of Hastings]) visited Ghazi al-Din, just after his accession, from 11 October to 11 November 1814. He dined at the palace with the Nawab on 27 October and this picture probably commemorates that occasion (see ‘The private journal of the Marquess of Hastings, K.G., ed. the Marchioness of Bute,’ London, 1858, i, 198-200; [and also the Hastings Albums, Add.Or.4747-4764]). The portrait of Lord Moira is very similar to the kit-kat portrait formerly in Goverment House, Calcutta, reproduced W. Corfield, ‘Calcutta faces and places in pre-camera days’ (Calcutta, 1910), pl.24. It seems probable that the Kings of Oudh ordered their retained artists to record important occasions in the same way, as a photographer at a later date would have taken a group photograph. A copy was probably retained by the King and others given to the main guests.