MAKING A FRAME FOR FIREWORKS, COMPANY SCHOOL, LUCKNOW, CIRCA 1815-20

Watercolour on European paper, a five-lined border, inscribed lower center "Making Fire Works", upper right-hand corner inscribed "14" in pencil

Maggs Bros., London, Oriental Miniatures and Illumination, Bulletin No.24, December 1975, no.256

Room for Wonder, Indian Painting during the British Period 1760-1880, The American Federation of Arts, New York, 1978

Welch 1978, p.96-7, no.40

In very good condition, colours bright and no staining or losses on paper, as viewed.
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The Indian fascination with fireworks is frequently testified to in miniature painting. The passion existed amongst both Muslim and Hindu, the latter indulging this to its fullest in the celebration of Diwali. This miniature shows something of the extravagance of the court at Lucknow in this period which is renowned for its pursuit of pleasure in the years of its gradual decline.

The painting would have come from an album depicting various occupations. Four paintings from the same series are in the India Office Library (Archer 1972, p.160, no.123, nos.i-iv), and three others were published in the same Maggs Bros. bulletin as the present work (see Provenance, above).