A water-carrier or behesti.

Company School, South India, circa 1840.

The term Company School by which this group of watercolours are known is derived from the fact that the European patrons of Indian artists worked for the various European East India Companies. These artists had trained in the ateliers of Mughal and Rajput rulers. Their patrons had plenty of time to appreciate Indian culture and their romantic fascination for it, led them to commission sets of watercolours depicting tradesmen, local crafts, conveyances, bazaars, architecture and natural history. Company Painting flourished for a short period with its apogee between 1800 and 1840.

See also the group in the watercolour section.

Watercolour on paper. 180 x 220mm. (7.1 x 8.7ins).