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1 of 253523 objects
Watercolour and bodycolour | 38.3 x 27.7 cm (whole object) | RCIN 916757
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A watercolour portrait of Risaldar Muhammad Ruza Khan, an Indian officer in the uniform of the 2nd, or the 15th Bengal Cavalry: full-length, standing, turned slightly to the right; with both hands clasped on his upturned sword. Signed, dated and inscribed: W Fane/ 1882/ Risaldar Tawr Khan/ 2d. Bengal Cavalry.
The identification of the sitter in the inscription is probably incorrect. The only Indian officer in the 2nd Bengal Cavalry to be invested with the Order of British India, 2nd Class (as shown here) on 24 November 1882 was Risaldar Muhammad Ruza Khan. The subject here wears the uniform of the 2nd or 15th Bengal Cavalry.
A contingent of Indian troops, who had fought with the British in the Egyptian Campaign in 1882, came to England and some, among them the men shown in RCIN 916755-916758, were invested with Orders by Queen Victoria. The Order of British India, 1st Class, carried with it the title of Sirdar Bahadur (roughly translated as 'Exalted Chief'), and the 2nd Class, that of Bahadur. Each of the men drawn by Fane received this order in November 1882. On 20 December the Queen wrote in her journal that she 'saw some very fine sketches of the Indian officers, by Gen: Fane' which were probably commissioned the previous month.
Walter Fane entered the service of the East India Company in 1845. He served in the Irregular Cavalry, 1849-57. He participated in the pursuit and capture of Tantia Tope, (real name Ramchandra Panduranga) a rebel leader during the Indian Rebellion against British colonial oppression, captured in Central India in 1859. Fane raised the regiment of Irregular Cavalry, Fane's Horse, and commanded it in the China War of 1860, in the engagement at Sinho and the capture of Peking. He was made a CB. Major General in 1879. William Simpson wrote that Fane was 'wellknown over the whole of the North-West for his ability as an artist. I have often said that he ought to have been an artist - Nature had meant him for that, and in saying so I meant no disrespect to his qualification as a soldier' (Simpson, pp.96-7).
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Medium and techniques
Watercolour and bodycolour
Measurements
38.3 x 27.7 cm (whole object)
Other number(s)
RL 16757Alternative title(s)
Ressaidar Mohamed Ruza Khan, Bahadur, 2nd Bengal Cavalry, 1882