Front elevation of the Annundnah Public Library at Bauleah, Bengal.

Inscribed in a contemporary hand. Bauleah was an important factory (trading post) in Bengal at this period. Company School. Circa 1800.

The term Company School derives from the period when Indian artists worked under the patronage of Europeans employed by the various East India Companies. These patrons had time and leisure to appreciate Indian culture, and a romantic fascination for it led them to commission sets of watercolours depicting tradesmen, local crafts, conveyances, bazaars, architecture and natural history. They were fortunate to find artists who had trained in the ateliers of Mughal and Rajput rulers. Company School painting flourished for a short period, reaching its height between 1800 and 1840.

See also the group in the miniatures section.

Ink, pencil and watercolour on Indian paper. Mounted on card. 240 x 640mm. (9.4 x 25.2 inches).