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Company Painting

‘Company painting’ is a broad term for a variety of hybrid styles that developed as a result of European (especially British) 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 who found the purely indigenous styles not to their taste. As many of these patrons worked for the various East India companies, the painting style came to be associated with the name, although it was in fact also used for paintings produced for local rulers and other Indian patrons. The subject matter of company paintings made for western patrons was often documentary rather than imaginative, and as a consequence, the Indian artists were required to adopt a more naturalistic approach to painting than had traditionally been usual. Europeans commissioned sets of images depicting festivals and scenes from Indian life or albums illustrating the various castes and occupations, as well as the architecture, plants and animals of the sub-continent. While most of the works were painted on paper, there was also a fashion for images of Mughal monuments and Mughal rulers and their wives painted on small plaques of ivory. This increased use of western approaches to painting coincided with the later phases of local painting styles, as manifested in centres such as Lucknow, Murshidabad and Delhi in North India and Mysore and Thanjavur in the South.

Past Auctions

South Asian Art ( 26 October - 30 October, 2017 )

lot 9

Company Painting

Raja Chitter Sen

Estimate: US$ 1,000 - 1,500

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Winning Bid: $ 1,500
South Asian Art ( 26 October - 30 October, 2017 )

lot 10

Company Painting

Nawab Husayn Quli Khan

Estimate: US$ 1,000 - 1,500

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Winning Bid: $ 1,500
South Asian Art ( 23 March - 27 March, 2017 )

lot 23

Company Painting

Muslim divine praying at a mosque in Trichinopoly

Estimate: US$ 1,000 - 1,500

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Winning Bid: $ 1,000
South Asian Art ( 23 March - 27 March, 2017 )

lot 25

Company Painting

Acrobats

Estimate: US$ 1,000 - 1,500

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Winning Bid: $ 900
South Asian Art ( 23 March - 27 March, 2017 )

lot 24

Company Painting

A Shri-Vaishnava Brahmin and his wife

Estimate: US$ 1,000 - 1,500

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Winning Bid: $ 900
South Asian Art ( 10 May - 14 May, 2018 )

lot 15

Company Painting

Rajput warrior

Estimate: US$ 600 - 900

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Winning Bid: $ 800
South Asian Art ( 10 May - 14 May, 2018 )

lot 4

Company Painting

Mughal nobleman

Estimate: US$ 600 - 900

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Winning Bid: $ 800
South Asian Art ( 10 May - 14 May, 2018 )

lot 8

Company Painting

Warrior

Estimate: US$ 600 - 900

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Winning Bid: $ 800
South Asian Art ( 10 May - 14 May, 2018 )

lot 17

Company Painting

Dancing devotee

Estimate: US$ 600 - 900

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Winning Bid: $ 800
South Asian Art ( 10 May - 14 May, 2018 )

lot 23

Company Painting

Dancing devotee

Estimate: US$ 600 - 900

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Winning Bid: $ 800
South Asian Art ( 10 May - 14 May, 2018 )

lot 12

Company Painting

Courtesan

Estimate: US$ 600 - 900

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Winning Bid: $ 700
South Asian Art ( 10 May - 14 May, 2018 )

lot 6

Company Painting

Arab woman

Estimate: US$ 600 - 900

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Winning Bid: $ 700
South Asian Art ( 10 May - 14 May, 2018 )

lot 13

Company Painting

Muslim fakir

Estimate: US$ 600 - 900

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Winning Bid: $ 700
South Asian Art ( 10 May - 14 May, 2018 )

lot 7

Company Painting

Holy water seller

Estimate: US$ 600 - 900

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Winning Bid: $ 700
South Asian Art ( 10 May - 14 May, 2018 )

lot 5

Company Painting

Woman musician

Estimate: US$ 600 - 900

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Winning Bid: $ 700
South Asian Art ( 10 May - 14 May, 2018 )

lot 16

Company Painting

Wife on an ascetic

Estimate: US$ 600 - 900

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Winning Bid: $ 700
South Asian Art ( 06 December - 10 December, 2018 )

lot 5

Company Painting

Cymbal player

Estimate: US$ 600 - 900

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Winning Bid: $ 700
South Asian Art ( 06 December - 10 December, 2018 )

lot 7

Company Painting

Man with a book

Estimate: US$ 600 - 900

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Winning Bid: $ 700
South Asian Art ( 06 December - 10 December, 2018 )

lot 1

Company Painting

Maratha warrior

Estimate: US$ 600 - 900

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Winning Bid: $ 700
South Asian Art ( 06 December - 10 December, 2018 )

lot 2

Company Painting

Woman dancer

Estimate: US$ 600 - 900

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Winning Bid: $ 700
South Asian Art ( 06 December - 10 December, 2018 )

lot 4

Company Painting

Woman in thought

Estimate: US$ 600 - 900

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Winning Bid: $ 700
South Asian Art ( 10 May - 14 May, 2018 )

lot 10

Company Painting

Woman with a pot

Estimate: US$ 600 - 900

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Winning Bid: $ 600
South Asian Art ( 10 May - 14 May, 2018 )

lot 11

Company Painting

Vaishnava mendicant

Estimate: US$ 600 - 900

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Winning Bid: $ 600
South Asian Art ( 10 May - 14 May, 2018 )

lot 14

Company Painting

Courtesan

Estimate: US$ 600 - 900

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Winning Bid: $ 600
South Asian Art ( 10 May - 14 May, 2018 )

lot 9

Company Painting

Woman pilgrim

Estimate: US$ 600 - 900

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Winning Bid: $ 600
South Asian Art ( 10 May - 14 May, 2018 )

lot 21

Company Painting

Carpet weaver

Estimate: US$ 600 - 900

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Winning Bid: $ 600
South Asian Art ( 10 May - 14 May, 2018 )

lot 20

Company Painting

Woman with a fan

Estimate: US$ 600 - 900

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Winning Bid: $ 600
South Asian Art ( 10 May - 14 May, 2018 )

lot 22

Company Painting

Woman with a shivalingam

Estimate: US$ 600 - 900

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Winning Bid: $ 600
South Asian Art ( 10 May - 14 May, 2018 )

lot 19

Company Painting

Hindu devotee

Estimate: US$ 600 - 900

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Winning Bid: $ 600
South Asian Art ( 10 May - 14 May, 2018 )

lot 18

Company Painting

Woman in a green sari

Estimate: US$ 600 - 900

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Winning Bid: $ 600
South Asian Art ( 06 December - 10 December, 2018 )

lot 3

Company Painting

Brahmin with a waterpot

Estimate: US$ 600 - 900

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Winning Bid: $ 600
South Asian Art ( 06 December - 10 December, 2018 )

lot 6

Company Painting

Courtesan

Estimate: US$ 600 - 900

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Winning Bid: $ 600
South Asian Art ( 06 December - 10 December, 2018 )

lot 8

Company Painting

Wife of an ascetic

Estimate: US$ 600 - 900

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Winning Bid: $ 600
South Asian Art ( 06 December - 10 December, 2018 )

lot 9

Company Painting

Bangle seller

Estimate: US$ 600 - 900

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Winning Bid: $ 600
South Asian Art ( 06 December - 10 December, 2018 )

lot 10

Company Painting

Woman with a baby

Estimate: US$ 600 - 900

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Winning Bid: $ 600