glass painting
Object NameReverse-painted Portrait on Mirror Glass Depicting a Mughal Nobleman, perhaps Na
Made FromGlass, Gold, Silver, Pigments, Woodl, Mercury-Tin Amalgam Mirror
Date1760-1780
Place MadeIndia, West Bengal, possibly Calcutta
TechniquePainted, silvered, applied
SizeOverall H: 96.5 cm, W: 66 cm, D: 3.5 cm; Painting H: 79 cm, W: 48.5 cm
Accession Number2014.6.18
Curatorial Area(s)
On ViewEuropean Gallery
Physical DescriptionReverse-painted Portrait on Mirror Glass Depicting a Mughal Nobleman, perhaps Nawab Shahamat Jang. Opaque pigments, gold, silver; painted and silvered. Reverse-painted portrait depicting nobleman sitting on a terrace. Man is kneeling on a mat, which also holds pillows and swords. Painting mounted in 20th century chinoiserie wood frame.Provenance
Source
Oliver Forge and Brendan Lynch Ltd.
- 2014-2014-08-08
Former Collection
Commander Robert Skelton
- 1990-2014
Acquired from Forge & Lynch, London, in 2014. Painting transferred to R. Spowers Esq. by decent from the 1990s up to 2014. It was in seeking expert advice for catalogue entries around this time that Spowers met Robert Skelton, then Keeper of the Department of Indian Art at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and already one of the world’s leading authorities on Indian painting. According to Mrs. Antonia Spowers, her husband left Christie’s around 1982. Robert Skelton has confirmed to Forge and Lynch that he viewed the painting while Spowers was still at Christie’s. The painting was in the collection of Muncaster Castle, seat of the Pennington family, Cumbria, England, until a house sale in the 1970s. The Pennington family have been resident at Muncaster Castle, Cumbria since the early 13th century, and there are approx. four possible members of that family who would have been in a position to acquire a work from mid-18th century West Bengal. Namely, Sir John Pennington (3rd Baronet. Died on 26 March 1768); Sir Joseph Pennington (4th Baronet. A Commissioner of Customs. Died on 4 February 1793); Sir John Pennington (5th Baronet and the First Lord Muncaster. Created peer of Ireland on 25th September 1783. Died on 8th October 1813) and Sir Lowther Pennington (2nd Baron Muncaster and 6th Baronet. A general in the army and colonel in the 4th Royal Veteran Battalion. Died on 29th July 1818).
Acquired from Forge & Lynch, London, in 2014. Painting transferred to R. Spowers Esq. by decent from the 1990s up to 2014. It was in seeking expert advice for catalogue entries around this time that Spowers met Robert Skelton, then Keeper of the Department of Indian Art at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and already one of the world’s leading authorities on Indian painting. According to Mrs. Antonia Spowers, her husband left Christie’s around 1982. Robert Skelton has confirmed to Forge and Lynch that he viewed the painting while Spowers was still at Christie’s. The painting was in the collection of Muncaster Castle, seat of the Pennington family, Cumbria, England, until a house sale in the 1970s. The Pennington family have been resident at Muncaster Castle, Cumbria since the early 13th century, and there are approx. four possible members of that family who would have been in a position to acquire a work from mid-18th century West Bengal. Namely, Sir John Pennington (3rd Baronet. Died on 26 March 1768); Sir Joseph Pennington (4th Baronet. A Commissioner of Customs. Died on 4 February 1793); Sir John Pennington (5th Baronet and the First Lord Muncaster. Created peer of Ireland on 25th September 1783. Died on 8th October 1813) and Sir Lowther Pennington (2nd Baron Muncaster and 6th Baronet. A general in the army and colonel in the 4th Royal Veteran Battalion. Died on 29th July 1818).
Former Collection
Antonia Spowers
- 1984-1990
Entered collection of Mrs. Antonia Spowers upon her divorce from Major W.A. Spowers in 1984
Entered collection of Mrs. Antonia Spowers upon her divorce from Major W.A. Spowers in 1984
Former Collection
Major William Allan Spowers
(1925-2009) - 1970-1984
Acquired from Forge & Lynch, London, in 2014. Painting transferred to R. Spowers Esq. by decent from the 1990s up to 2014. It was in seeking expert advice for catalogue entries around this time that Spowers met Robert Skelton, then Keeper of the Department of Indian Art at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and already one of the world’s leading authorities on Indian painting. According to Mrs. Antonia Spowers, her husband left Christie’s around 1982. Robert Skelton has confirmed to Forge and Lynch that he viewed the painting while Spowers was still at Christie’s. The painting was in the collection of Muncaster Castle, seat of the Pennington family, Cumbria, England, until a house sale in the 1970s. The Pennington family have been resident at Muncaster Castle, Cumbria since the early 13th century, and there are approx. four possible members of that family who would have been in a position to acquire a work from mid-18th century West Bengal. Namely, Sir John Pennington (3rd Baronet. Died on 26 March 1768); Sir Joseph Pennington (4th Baronet. A Commissioner of Customs. Died on 4 February 1793); Sir John Pennington (5th Baronet and the First Lord Muncaster. Created peer of Ireland on 25th September 1783. Died on 8th October 1813) and Sir Lowther Pennington (2nd Baron Muncaster and 6th Baronet. A general in the army and colonel in the 4th Royal Veteran Battalion. Died on 29th July 1818).
Acquired from Forge & Lynch, London, in 2014. Painting transferred to R. Spowers Esq. by decent from the 1990s up to 2014. It was in seeking expert advice for catalogue entries around this time that Spowers met Robert Skelton, then Keeper of the Department of Indian Art at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and already one of the world’s leading authorities on Indian painting. According to Mrs. Antonia Spowers, her husband left Christie’s around 1982. Robert Skelton has confirmed to Forge and Lynch that he viewed the painting while Spowers was still at Christie’s. The painting was in the collection of Muncaster Castle, seat of the Pennington family, Cumbria, England, until a house sale in the 1970s. The Pennington family have been resident at Muncaster Castle, Cumbria since the early 13th century, and there are approx. four possible members of that family who would have been in a position to acquire a work from mid-18th century West Bengal. Namely, Sir John Pennington (3rd Baronet. Died on 26 March 1768); Sir Joseph Pennington (4th Baronet. A Commissioner of Customs. Died on 4 February 1793); Sir John Pennington (5th Baronet and the First Lord Muncaster. Created peer of Ireland on 25th September 1783. Died on 8th October 1813) and Sir Lowther Pennington (2nd Baron Muncaster and 6th Baronet. A general in the army and colonel in the 4th Royal Veteran Battalion. Died on 29th July 1818).
Former Collection
Pennington Family
- 1970
Acquired from Forge & Lynch, London, in 2014. Painting transferred to R. Spowers Esq. by decent from the 1990s up to 2014. It was in seeking expert advice for catalogue entries around this time that Spowers met Robert Skelton, then Keeper of the Department of Indian Art at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and already one of the world’s leading authorities on Indian painting. According to Mrs. Antonia Spowers, her husband left Christie’s around 1982. Robert Skelton has confirmed to Forge and Lynch that he viewed the painting while Spowers was still at Christie’s. The painting was in the collection of Muncaster Castle, seat of the Pennington family, Cumbria, England, until a house sale in the 1970s. The Pennington family have been resident at Muncaster Castle, Cumbria since the early 13th century, and there are approx. four possible members of that family who would have been in a position to acquire a work from mid-18th century West Bengal. Namely, Sir John Pennington (3rd Baronet. Died on 26 March 1768); Sir Joseph Pennington (4th Baronet. A Commissioner of Customs. Died on 4 February 1793); Sir John Pennington (5th Baronet and the First Lord Muncaster. Created peer of Ireland on 25th September 1783. Died on 8th October 1813) and Sir Lowther Pennington (2nd Baron Muncaster and 6th Baronet. A general in the army and colonel in the 4th Royal Veteran Battalion. Died on 29th July 1818).
Acquired from Forge & Lynch, London, in 2014. Painting transferred to R. Spowers Esq. by decent from the 1990s up to 2014. It was in seeking expert advice for catalogue entries around this time that Spowers met Robert Skelton, then Keeper of the Department of Indian Art at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and already one of the world’s leading authorities on Indian painting. According to Mrs. Antonia Spowers, her husband left Christie’s around 1982. Robert Skelton has confirmed to Forge and Lynch that he viewed the painting while Spowers was still at Christie’s. The painting was in the collection of Muncaster Castle, seat of the Pennington family, Cumbria, England, until a house sale in the 1970s. The Pennington family have been resident at Muncaster Castle, Cumbria since the early 13th century, and there are approx. four possible members of that family who would have been in a position to acquire a work from mid-18th century West Bengal. Namely, Sir John Pennington (3rd Baronet. Died on 26 March 1768); Sir Joseph Pennington (4th Baronet. A Commissioner of Customs. Died on 4 February 1793); Sir John Pennington (5th Baronet and the First Lord Muncaster. Created peer of Ireland on 25th September 1783. Died on 8th October 1813) and Sir Lowther Pennington (2nd Baron Muncaster and 6th Baronet. A general in the army and colonel in the 4th Royal Veteran Battalion. Died on 29th July 1818).
