Object Details
- School/Tradition
- Company school
- Provenance
- 1857-?
- Reportedly Captain William Stephen Raikes Hodson (1821-1858), taken after the British storming of Delhi [1]
- 1857-1890
- Ownership information unknown
- By 1890
- Colonel Henry Bathurst Hanna (1839-1914), method of acquisition unknown [2]
- 1907-1919
- Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Colonel Henry Bathurst Hanna [3]
- From 1920
- Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer [4]
- Notes:
- [1] See “Catalogue of Indo-Persian Pictures and Manuscripts, Principally of the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth Centuries by Native Artists, Collected by H. B. Hanna” [book], (London: Dowdeswell and Dowdeswells, 1890), page 24.
- This catalog indicates “Taken by Hodson, near Hamáyan’s Tomb, after the assault and capture of that city in September, 1857.”
- Captain William Stephen Raikes Hodson was a British Army soldier who led an irregular calvary regiment during the Indian Rebellion (1857-1859). Born in Gloucestershire, England, Hodson was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge. He enlisted in the British Army in 1844, serving in the first Anglo-Sikh War, 1845-46. In 1857, he was charged with leading 2,000 irregular horsemen during the Indian Rebellion at Delhi, where he accepted the surrender of Bahadur Shah II, the last of the Mughal emperors of India, near Hamáyan’s Tomb. Hodson died in 1858 fighting at Lucknow, where his remains were buried.
- [2] See “Catalogue of Indo-Persian Pictures and Manuscripts, Principally of the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth Centuries by Native Artists, Collected by H. B. Hanna” [book].
- Colonel Henry Bathurst Hanna (1839-1914) was an officer in the British military and a collector of Indian paintings. Born in Petersfield, Hampshire, England, Hanna’s family later moved to London, where he was baptized in 1851. Beginning in 1857, Hanna served as a commissioned officer in the Indian Army and retired with the rank of Colonel in 1889. After his retirement, he resided in London and Petersfield with his younger sisters. According to Hanna, he began collecting Indian paintings around the time of the Indian Rebellion (1857-1859). See letter from Henry Bathurst Hanna to Charles Lang Freer, dated April 10, 1908 [sic, 1907], p. 3, Box 17, Folder No. 10, Charles Lang Freer Papers, National Museum of Asian Art Archives, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
- [3] See Charles Lang Freer art voucher no. 24, “For a collection of Indo-Persian pictures and manuscripts” from H. B. Hanna of Heathmere, Petersfield, Hants. [Hampshire], England, from October 1907, Box 114, Folder No. 12, Charles Lang Freer Papers, National Museum of Asian Art Archives, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., copy in object file.
- [4] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.
- Research updated April 19, 2024
- Collection
- Freer Gallery of Art Collection
- Previous custodian or owner
- Colonel Henry Bathurst Hanna (1839-1914) (C.L. Freer source)
- Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
- Captain William Stephen Raikes Hodson (1821 - 1858)
- Credit Line
- Gift of Charles Lang Freer
- mid 19th century
- Accession Number
- F1907.619
- Restrictions & Rights
- CC0
- Type
- Painting
- Medium
- Watercolor on paper
- Dimensions
- H x W: 8.6 x 7.6 cm (3 3/8 x 3 in)
- Origin
- India
- Related Online Resources
- Google Cultural Institute
- See more items in
- Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
- Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
- Topic
- portrait
- India
- South Asian and Himalayan Art
- Charles Lang Freer collection
- Record ID
- fsg_F1907.619
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ye3c3b85e8c-d7aa-4d7f-ba1c-ad3441ee9734
