Rawalpindi, the family of a senior British official. A watercolour of 1870

A watercolour of family life in Rawalpindi in 1870.

The watercolour, 10 x 6½ ins 25 x 16 cm], is pasted to a piece of an old thin card album sheet. It is titled in pencil on the card Frank with nurse and attendant, Rawalpindee 1870. The sketch shows the mistress of the house with two very small children who are being shaded by a nurse and attendant with parasols. A syce [groom] stands beside the pony and an elderly, uniformed senior servant stands looking important. The amateur artist paints well detailed faces in this small scale. Such pictures as this are charming, decorative, and provide a vital window into a far distant world. The verso has a contemporary or rather earlier photograph, 8 x 5½ ins, titled Our house at Rawalpindee has an interesting view of a family relaxing in the garden. There is large ferris wheel with children and others in its four cars operated by two servants. an elderly bewhiskered gentleman sits to the right. Rawalpindi is now in Pakistan.    jun111