A portrait of a Metalsmith, attributed to Bishan Singh, Amritsar or Lahore, circa 1860-70

Often known as Baba Bishan Singh, the artist Bishan Singh came from a family of artists working in Punjab during the second half of the nineteenth century. Although mainly working in Lahore and Amritsar, the family is also known to have worked in the neighbouring princely states of Kapurthala, Patiala and Nabha. Bishan Singh and his brother, Kishan Singh, worked as muralists at important Sikh shrines in Amritsar, including the Akal Takht and the Golden Temple. The Exhibition of Arts and Crafts held at Lahore in 1864 displayed ten pictures by Bishan Singh including durbars of Ranjit Singh, Sher Singh and the Municipal Committee of Amritsar (W.G. Archer, Paintings of the Sikhs, London, 1966, p.61).

Additional works by Bishan Singh include an illustration of a Kashmir shawl weaving workshop, inscribed in Gurmukhi in the lower left corner with the name of Bishan Singh and dated vikram samvat 1931 (circa 1874 AD), in the Musée Guimet, Paris (acc. no.MA 12702). A durbar scene attributed to the artist depicting Maharaja Sher Singh watching a dance performance, formerly in the Edwin Binney 3rd Collection, is now in the San Diego Museum of Art, (acc. no.1990.1348; B.N. Goswamy and C. Smith, Domains of Wonder, San Diego, 2005, fig. no.112, pp.262-3). Another painting attributable to Bishan Singh, Dost Muhammad being received by Sher Singh in Lahore on his way to regain the throne of Kabul, is in the Kapany Collection (Susan Stronge (ed.), The Arts of the Sikh Kingdoms, London 1999, no.189, pp.166-7). A further example, depicting a nautch being performed for Maharaja Sher Singh, attributable to Bishan Singh, was in the private collection of Prince and Princess Sadruddin Aga Khan (inv. no.M.301; S. Canby, Princes, Poets and Paladins, London, 1998, no.145, p.186). This painting, alongside a further processional painting of Maharaja Sher Singh, signed by Bishan Singh, is now in the Aga Khan Museum, Toronto (AKM202-3).

For additional paintings by or attributed to Bishan Singh, see D. Toor, In Pursuit of Empire – Treasures from the Toor Collection of Sikh Art, London 2018, pp.280-5; and D. Toor, Ranjit Singh – Sikh, Warrior, King, exhibition catalogue, The Wallace Collection, London, 2024, no.81, pp.122-3. Other paintings by Bishan Singh of similar format with the sitter depicted within an architectural niche on a reed mat have sold in these rooms, 23 October 2024, lot 181 and at Christie's New York, 20 March 2024, lot 561.