c1800s British military painting. When and where was it created?

Hi,

I have this painting which I wanted to research. It looks British infantry? military to me. Red coat soldier or officers. Because of the headgear and camels I'm thinking its maybe painted in India? But the men sitting around the camels look liek they are wearing Arabic headgear and clothing? There are soldiers standing in formation and they are wearing skirts or kilts? I hope somebody here has more knowledge and can date and pinpoint the location. Thank you so much

 

it's nice...not a factory painting...
any signature...anything on the back???????????

 

no signature unfortunately. It is painted on canvas and laid on board so I can not look at the back. It looks like it had some repairs in the clouds and mountains and is therefore maybe laid down on a later board.

I also do not think that this is a factory painting. Looks like its a live painted scene because of quick brush strokes to catch the scene and the naive style. So therefore im interested in doing more research about this work because it could be of historical value from before photography was introduced.

 

Um... I'm not so sure. Very perfunctorily done. Look at the sketchiness of the figures, those broad strokes to create their background, the dabs to create the foliage and how it floats, all combined with the artist's poor grasp of linear perspective. I would look to Asia. And a photograph of the back including frame would certainly help determine for sure.

Debora

 

It's always helpful to compare with a genuine military painting from the 1800s. Here's one I found of an Indian scene after a quick search. This is the level of detail one would expect.

Debora

 

nothing to be seen on the back. The painting was cut out from the stretcher and stuck on to board, the board is from a later period.

 

ive seen many of these, that is why i thought it was India. But the headgear and uniforms do not match. I wanted to research which battle/conflict this was.

 

I DO think there's a potential signature in the lower left corner, albeit small and under the red flowers......IF you are ABSOLUTELY POSITIVE you have an OIL painting, try a bit of spittle on a Q-tip to see if it cleans or lightens it at all! Here is the area I am talking about........especially just above the second red line in.....there might be more information above the other lines...

 

Probably doesn't match because fantasy piece.

Debora

 

I cleaned it already. It use to be black

Nothing there I'm afraid. no signature, i even looked with the black light but cant find one

 

You can always research military campaigns in richly -foliaged mountainous terrain where the British used camels.

Debora

 

That's an idea. Although don't think there are camels in Goa. Here's a painting depicting the Maratha Wars of 1664 to 1739.

Debora

 

Might I add that the guy in the foreground with the horn has some amazing range of rotation of the neck. We are almost in Exorcist territory.

 

I noticed that too. Not the work of a professionally trained artist. If original to frame, that burlap dates it to the 1960s/1970s.

Debora

 

Here is the Scottish Regiments of the British Army in India 1880
Scottish Tartans
British troops

Maybe it's a scene depicting the British regaining control after the 1857 uprising?

 

Almost sure its British. The red uniforms were typically British. The man whos holding the horn is wearing a British uniform and the right headgear with the white plum.

Its the other one which is standing next to him with the red jacket with seargant ranks and strange headscarf which I can not find