A butcher at work, attributed to the artist Bishan Singh (circa 1836-1900)
Punjab, probably Amritsar, circa 1860-70
gouache and gold on paper, blue margin rules
262 x 202 mm.
Footnotes:
Provenance
Private collection, USA: acquired at an antiques market in Paris.

Bishan Singh came from a family of artists operating in Lahore and Amritsar in the second half of the 19th century, who were also known to have worked in the neighbouring princely states of Kapurthala, Patiala and Nabha. The family were responsible for painting and maintaining the murals and motifs on the walls of the Sikh holiest shrine, the Golden Temple, and it is there that Bishan (and his brother Kishan Singh) learnt their trade. A self portrait of the artist was sold in these rooms, Bonhams, Islamic and Indian Art, 25th October 2007, lot 483.

At the exhibition of arts and crafts held at Lahore in 1864, Bishan Singh showed ten pictures including durbars of Ranjit Singh and Sher Singh, as well as group of paintings on the production of Kashmir shawls. Baden-Powell and Percy Brown commented that Bishan Singh's works were the 'most clever and truthful paintings' in the exhibition, the artist being awarded top merits amongst the paintings submitted to jury; 'the colour is tasteful and rich and likenesses are good and the expression is varied and truthful' (B. H. Baden-Powell, Handbook of the Manufactures and Arts of the Punjab, Lahore 1872, pp. 354-55; quoted in W. G. Archer, Paintings of the Sikhs, London 1966, p. 61). The durbar scene of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in the Toor Collection was among the ten works - see D. Toor, In Pursuit of Empire, London 2018, pp. 92-95.

Most recently, a very similar work of similar size and composition, attributed to Bishan Singh, depicting Kashmiri weavers, sold at Christie's New York, Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian Art, 20th March 2024, lot 561.

A painting depicting the court of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, ascribed to Bishan Singh, Lahore or Amritsar, and dated VS 1927/AD 1870-71, sold at Sotheby's, Arts of the Islamic World and India, 31 March 2021, lot 44.
Christie's, Art of the Islamic and Indian Worlds, 31st March 2022, lot 98, depicting the Amritsar Municipal Committee, by Bishan Singh, dated VS 1940/AD 1883-84.
Sotheby's, Arts of the Islamic World and India, 24th April 2024, lot 139, depicting weavers arranging shawls in bales, by a Sikh artist, style of Bishan Singh, North India, Amritsar or Lahore, circa 1860-70.

Other examples include:

Christie's, Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian Miniatures and Works of Art, 10th October 1989, lot 73 (Musicians and dancers before Maharajah Sher Singh, signed and dated VS 1931/AD 1874), and lot 74 (Procession of Maharajah Sher Singh and the young princes, signed, circa 1875).
S. Canby, Princes, Poets and Paladins, London 1998, pp. 185-186, nos. 144 and 145.

For unattributed works of tradespeople in a similar style, see:
Sotheby's, Oriental Manuscripts and Miniatures, 26th April 1995, lots 159 and 160, both depicting Kashmir shawl weavers, Lahore, circa 1866.
Simon Ray, Indian and Islamic Works of Art, April 2007, no. 59, depicting Kashmir shawl weavers, Lahore, circa 1866; and another shawl-weaving workshop, Lahore, circa 1866, November 2019, no. 52.

A comparable painting of a shawl weaving workshop by Bishan Singh, dated to 1874, is in the collection of the Musée Guimet, Paris (MA 12702).
Five works, there attributed to Bishan Singh, including four or tradespeople in the same vertical format as our painting, are in the Parvinder Khanuja collection: see Splendors of Punjab Heritage, Paradise Valley 2022, pp./ 390-391, nos. 49-53.
A work depicting women in a cart is in the Toor Collection, London (Toor, op.cit., p.282).
This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: *
* VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium.