One of the best recorded and productive schools of Company School painting flourished at Patna. Positioned on the southern bank of the Ganges river, Patna became a prosperous center of international trade during the British period with factories producing calico, silk, and salt to be sent in large cargos to Europe. Painters at Patna were often trained in the provincial Mughal atelier at Murshidabad and moved to Patna as the factory production brought in a wealth of foreign business. Unlike Mughal paintings, which were worked in the miniaturist style, and often focused on royal and courtly scenes, the Patna school of painting was heavily influenced by the works of European watercolors, and depicted scenes of domestic life, local festivals, customs, and bazaars, reflecting the interests of the East India Company officers who wished to document their time on the Ganges. Paintings brought back to London from Patna were often used as illustrations in British publications in India; along with aquatints produced by Thomas Daniell RA (1749- 1840), the Patna school was instrumental in shaping the Western view of India in the 19^th century.
The Patna school is marked by the kajli seahi technique in which the works are painted straight away with loose brushstrokes, without using a pencil to draft or delineate the forms. The school was well regarded for their depictions of night scenes, incorporating deep crimsons and peacock blues which were not as commonly portrayed in British watercolors. Sewak Ram (c. 1770-1830) was undoubtedly the most influential of the painters at Patna, with a prolific career recording the local scenes for British patrons after moving from Murshidabad around the year 1800. He was celebrated particularly for his master of the kajli seahi technique, and his proficiency in depicting large crowds and celebrations. None of Sewak Ram’s works are signed, although many examples of his work were contemporaneously ascribed to him by his patrons. The artist was incredibly prolific, painting at least two large series of festival and customs scenes for British patrons. Paintings such as the present example are at times credited to Sewak Ram, and while attribution can remain uncertain, it can be assumed the present paintings were at the very least created within his circle at Patna, based off of Ram’s original compositions.
A similar version of the present lot, titled “Marriage Procession at Night formally the Ehrenfeld collection has been attributed to Sewak Ram, published by J. Bautze in Interaction of Cultures: Indian and Western Painting 1780-1910, San Francsico, 1998, pp. 258-260, no. 65. Other works attributed to Sewak Ram are in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (acc. no. 2008.434 ), the Victoria and Albert Museum (acc. nos. IM.86-1949, IM.87-1949, IS.74-1954 and IS.63-1964), the Chester Beatty Library (acc. no. 74.2 and 74.3) and the British Library. Three similar paintings, attributed to Sewak Ram, sold at Bonhams London, 11 June 2020, lots 171, 178 and 179. For another Patna School painting, likely by the same hand as the present lot, see lot 558 in the present sale.