Dates within an inscription
The British Library’s Sher Singh watercolour, WD3116, contains two kinds of dating evidence. Its recorded inscription locates the drawing at the Akora camp on 11 November 1836, while another part calls the sitter the present maharaja. The catalogue explains that part of the wording was added when the drawing was prepared for publication. It identifies Godfrey Thomas Vigne as artist and dates Sher Singh’s accession to 1841 and death to 1843. The later royal title therefore should not override the recorded drawing date. Preserve the full inscription and the catalogue’s explanation before assigning a single date to everything written on the sheet.[1]
Drawing and printed edition
The Asian Art Museum’s Sher Singh print, 1998.63.2, separates several production roles. Emily Eden is the artist; Lowes Cato Dickenson is identified as printer and J. Dickenson and Son as publisher. Its object date is 1844 and its medium is a hand-painted chromolithograph. The label relates it to Eden’s earlier encounters with the Sikh court. A date attached to that published print is therefore not automatically the date of the original sitting or drawing. Keep the credited roles with the object number when comparing it with a watercolour.[2]
An unnamed Company artist
A third Sher Singh image, National Army Museum accession 1968-07-469-7, is catalogued as a Punjab watercolour of approximately 1865 by a Company artist. It belongs to the first of two albums titled The Kingdom of the Punjab, its Rulers and Chiefs. The museum explains Company painting as work made by Indian artists for British customers, including commissions and ready-made pictures. That category supplies a production context, not a recovered personal name. Preserve the unnamed attribution rather than borrowing Vigne’s or Eden’s authorship from another likeness of the same sitter. The album title itself supplies no date for a sitting.[3]
Sources & notes
Source records include access dates and, where known, limits on what was examined. Checks used AI assistance; independent human or specialist review has not been completed.
- British Library. Sher Singh watercolour, WD3116 ↗institutional drawing catalogue · Source date: publication date not established · Locator: Complete Title, Scope and Content, inscription, Note, artist, date and shelfmark fields; record040-003283014. Accessed 2026-11-02.Actual full catalogue body read. The original drawing, its inscriptions and Vigne’s published Travels were not independently examined; transcription and publication-stage explanation are attributed to the catalogue. No current physical access arrangement is promised.Return to Dates within an inscription, paragraph 1 ↑
- Asian Art Museum, San Francisco. Maharaja Sher Singh, 1998.63.2 ↗institutional print catalogue · Source date: publication date not established · Locator: Full object metadata and Object Label: artist/printer/publisher, medium,1844 date and earlier court visit. Accessed 2026-11-02.Complete relevant catalogue body supplied by the search reader under a session-bearing URL; session/query parameters were removed from the durable reference. Direct access to the museum site presented a JavaScript/robot check and supplied no additional body. No image or original1844 portfolio was independently examined. The related Eden print labels share one family.Return to Drawing and printed edition, paragraph 1 ↑
- National Army Museum. Maharajah Sher Singh, NAM.1968-07-469-7 ↗institutional collection catalogue · Source date: publication date not established · Locator: Complete object description, Company-painting explanation, album title and accession. Accessed 2026-11-02.Actual full record body read. The artist remains unnamed and the date approximate. The catalogue’s Out of Copyright field is not used as permission for an uninspected image or another work. No current exhibition/location claim is made.Return to An unnamed Company artist, paragraph 1 ↑
Record PH-COL-0059 · English edition · human review not performed