during this memorable trip that he won the confidence of Maharana Sarup Singh (reigned 1842-1861) and befriended his leading painter Tara. One of Carpenter’s most celebrated pictures is his warm and sympathetic portrait of “Tara Chund, court painter”, with his two sons. This painting of 1851, now at the Victoria and Albert Museum, is published in Andrew Topsfield, Court Painting at Udaipur: Art under the patronage of the Maharanas of Mewar, 2002, pp. 1262-263, fig. 237. According to Topsfield, “Tara is shown in his prime, gazing at the viewer with his sketching-board propped up on his knee: was he drawing Carpenter at the same time? We may infer that the two artists from alien traditions got on well together.” On p. 264, fig. 238, Topsfield illustrates Carpenter’s portrait of Maharana Sarup Singh with attendants, and in fig. 239, Tara’s version of Carpenter’s composition. The Carpenter is now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, while the Tara is in the City Palace Museum, Udaipur. After his return to London, Carpenter was able to sell his paintings as the basis of stories to the Illustrated London News, which published his watercolours as woodcuts. Carpenter later travelled to Boston, Massachusetts and was there in 1866, but it is not known how long he spent in America. In 1881, Carpenter exhibited 275 of his paintings in a one-man show at the South Kensington Museum. The entire collection was subsequently acquired after the exhibition by the new Victoria and Albert Museum.
Provenance: James Broun-Ramsay (1812-1860), 1st Marquess of Dalhousie and Governor-General of India from 1848-1856.
Colstoun, East Lothian, Broun-Ramsay’s country house Acknowledgement: We would like to thank Jerry Losty for his expert advice. References: 1. Information on the Indian army ranks has been compiled from Empire, Faith & War: A Guide to Indian Army Ranks: A Basic Glossary to the Most Common Ranks of the Indian Army at http://www. empirefaithwar.com/tell-their-story/research-yoursoldier/helpful-guides/indian-army-ranks/; and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Havildar 2. Ibid., and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sepoy 3. Ibid., and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sowar 4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_ Carpenter_(painter); and vam.ac.uk 5. http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O82335/viewof-the-bazaar-at-painting-carpenter-william; and http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O108199/shahhamadans-mosque-painting-carpenter-william//