A Syce (Groom) Holding Two Carriage Horses

ca. 1845
Not on view
Many of the East India Company officers who commissioned paintings during the nineteenth century sought a visual record of their own households, including animals, possessions, and servants. Shaikh Muhammad Amir of Karraya specialized in such paintings and depicted these subjects with a naturalism that is both dignified and poetic. In this work the artist has painted a syce, or groom, symmetrically flanked by almost identical horses.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: A Syce (Groom) Holding Two Carriage Horses
  • Artist: attributed to Shaikh Muhammad Amir of Karraya (active 1830s–40s)
  • Date: ca. 1845
  • Geography: Made in India, Calcutta
  • Medium: Opaque watercolor on paper
  • Dimensions: H. 12 in. (30.5 cm)
    W. 20 in. (50.8 cm)
  • Classification: Codices
  • Credit Line: Louis E. and Theresa S. Seley Purchase Fund for Islamic Art and Rogers Fund, 1994
  • Object Number: 1994.280
  • Curatorial Department: Islamic Art

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