A MICA PAINTING OF A CEREMONIAL PROCESSION
Murshidabad, West Bengal, Eastern India, ca. 1820 - 1840

Opaque pigments on mica, the panel in horizontal format depicting a crowded ceremonial procession, most probably a Muharram procession for Ashura, two elephants at the beginning and end of the crowd, the centre of the composition occupied by three tall tiered decorative palanquins with canopies hand-carried by large groups of footmen, drummers in the front and swordsmen in the back, mounted on a dark blue ground, glazed and framed, 19.8cm x 25cm including the frame.

The tradition of mica (talc) painting has been well-practiced in Murshidabad since the late 18th century. Here, local artists had not only an abundance of material, mostly mined from Chota Nagpur, to the west of Murshidabad, but also a long-standing experience in working with this mineral. Indeed, Murshidabad artists were renowned for their beautiful and extravagant mica lamps and ornamental constructions, mainly built for the celebrations of Muslim festivals. When the royal patronage of the local Nawabs started declining, the local painters sought new sources of income and employed their techniques to paint autochthonous subjects and daily life scenes as export goods for Western travellers, who appreciated them greatly (Mildred Archer, Company Drawings in the India Office Library, 1972, p. 61).

The procession portrayed on our lot is identical to another mica painting part of a Company School album with 61 illustrations of Indian tradesmen, ceremonies, and processional scenes successfully sold at Christie's London, 25 June 2020, lot 108. The hand-written annotation accompanying the painting states the scene is depicting a "bridegroom's procession to visit the bride".