Painting of Shamsher Jung Bahadur of Nepal

A company style painting of Nepalese ruler Shamsher Jung Bahadur, gifted to the Museum in the early 20th century by Mrs. Murray, wife of British Lt. Col. H. Murray from the Bombay Western Army Command Circle.
‘Company painting’ is a broad term for a variety of hybrid styles that developed as a result of European influence on Indian artists from the early 18th to the 19th centuries. It evolved as a way of providing paintings that would appeal to European patrons. Such sets were produced for the growing number of Europeans in India who wished to acquire high quality souvenirs of their travels. The skilled technique is a legacy of Indian court artists working in miniature. Company paintings were often documentary in nature and subject matter included paintings of royal families, monuments, occupations and scenes from life in the Indian subcontinent.