painting (oil): ["The Viceroy's Orderly"]

A full length portrait of an Indian man, facing left, looking at the viewer. He is dressed in a splendid white costume. He has a white turban, with a long trailing length of cloth, embroidered in gold, at the back, which reaches to below waist level. He wears a gold clasp on top of the turban, clipped to a large ruffle. The tunic has a stand-up 'Nehru' collar, is long sleeved with folded-back cuffs, and reaches knee length. There is also a white cummerbund tied at the side. Sitter was Ruftadur Valayar Shah (a Sikh), orderly to Viscount Hardinge of Penshurst, Viceroy of India 1910-1916., Signed, dated and located (Simla). Signed "Nicholson, Simla, 1915" " "The Viceroy's Orderly" by Sir William Nicholson (1872-1949) was painted in 1915 when summoned to India by the Viceroy, Lord Hardings of Penshurst, to collaborate with the architect, Sir Edwin Lutyens, B.A., 1869-1944 working on the new Government Buildings at Delhi. The portrait has all the breadth of a Manet and shows well the artist's full technical powers when applied to a full length portrait, a comparatively rare undertaking with Nicholson even now only too often thought of as only a still life painter." (Annual Report of the Art Galleries and Museums Committee 1953-1954), (1) Mrs G. Kinnell. Bought from Nicholson.