George Duncan Beechey (1798-1852), Portrait of Begum of Oudh, Lucknow, India, circa 1840. Photo courtesy Amir Mohtashemi.

76.5 x 64cm. Oil on canvas

This is a recent discovery of a painting by a famous English painter, George Duncan Beechey, of Indian subjects. Remarkably, very few of his paintings have survived. He had access to the inner circles of the Lucknow royal family and managed to paint the high-ranking ladies of the court. This painting appears to be one of the very few surviving images of the series that he did on royal princesses in Lucknow. Sadly, a large number of his paintings which were sent to England for exhibition were lost at sea. The only other two paintings from the same series that can be found are in the Lucknow Museum in India.

Amir Mohtashemi (stand 235) at TEFAF 2014. 14-23 march 2014 - http://www.tefaf.com/