Pig Sticking Watercolours

Three Small Pig Sticking Watercolours on paper, window mounted and framed together.

The paintings are titled and dated to the pictures 'Marhoo The After Ride Mar 20 1877', 'Run For Your Life, Man Mar 19. 1877' and 'Rousing The Boar From His Lair Mar 19 1877'. The first shows an Indian on horseback carrying two pig sticking spears and following a mounted European; the middle picture shows a dismounted hunter who has obviously missed with his spear being chased by the boar; the final image shows the quarry being flushed from the undergrowth. Dated 1877.

Framed size is given.

One of a group of amateur watercolours showing the English in India at Field Sports and on a Line of March. Some of the paintings have been done with a quick hand to capture the moment whilst others are a little more considered. For instance, many of the Europeans are wearing Pith Helmets but they are drawn so quickly that their true shape is not shown. Three small pictures of Pig Sticking, framed together, are dated 1877 and others are dated 1880 and 1881.

They all look to have been framed at a later date, with evidence to the back of one dating the framing to 1923. Before they were framed, it can be seen that most had been folded and some have damage to the paper edges etc. It seems that nearly 50 years after they were painted, the paintings were reconsidered and framed, perhaps by a relative. Watercolour sketches that were done for amusement or as a memory were re-evaluated and seen with a different eye. They are evocative of an age gone by and interesting to us as some show furniture being transported.