Lot 128
MAJOR POWNOLL PHIPPS ACCOMPANIED BY HIS WIFE ON HIS ELEPHANT IN PROCESSION WITH THE IDOL JUGGERNAUT ON HIS CAR DURING THE CELEBRATION OF RATH JATRA
COPIED BY R. W. PHIPPS, 1894
Auction: 09 December 2026 from 14:00 GMT
Description
watercolour and ink on paper, depicting Major Pownoll in uniform on his elephant accompanied by his wife under an umbrella held up by an attendant, another British dignitary on his elephant in front of them, the Idol Juggernaut on a car with multiple wheels, with crowds of native Indians in attendance, two lines of English handwriting below, that reads: ‘The Idol juggernaut on his car, taken during the Rath Jattra in 1822, from a large picture by a Native Artist. Major (afterward Colonel) Pownoll Phipps. (Supt of. Building in Lower Provinces). Officially present, going backwards with his wife, on his Elephant. ’
Dimensions
20cm x 31.2cm
Provenance
Colonel Pownoll Phipps (1780-1858).
Thence by descent to Piers A. C. H. Phipps (1941-2015).
Footnote
Following his tenure at Agra, this painting records the subsequent role of Colonel Pownoll Phipps, that of Superintendent and Inspector of Public Buildings, Calcutta, from 1816-1822. It is based on a larger-scale painting now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, gifted by Pownoll Phipps's son, R. W Phipps (inv. no. IM.193-1920) who painted this one. Another son, P. W. Phipps, appears to mention this painting or something very much like it in his biography of his father, where he states that the local artists employed by the Colonel made pictures “of the Temple of Juggernaut, which at that time no European might see, but which my father had drawn by natives for his use when repairs were necessary” (P. W. Phipps, The Life of Colonel Pownoll Phipps, Richard Bentley and Son: 1894, pp.99-100) The present painting is therefore a remarkable piece of evidence for the role of Colonel Phipps in fostering local painting styles and supporting Indian artists to record the architectural wonders of India.