Shaikh Muhammad Amir’s A ‘Huqqa-Burdar’ is a detailed watercolour of a servant who carries and tends to a huqqa, or traditional Indian smoking apparatus. The work of art is part of the Company School tradition, which emerged in India under the British colonial rule and combined Indian draughtsmanship with Europeans’ interest in documenting various occupations, lifestyles, and cultures. Olympia Auctions
The main character is depicted on an open plain; however, his composed facial features, handsome face, and elegant clothing, including the neatly arranged folds of his dress, indicate that he is a man of rank. He is dressed in a white traditional costume, an elaborately patterned belt, and a unique turban. The huge huqqa that is observed along with him is the most striking element of the painting. It has a curved red-brown stem, metal fittings, and a glass container at the top that is rendered with particular precision.
The artist’s attention to detail in the clothes and accessories that he wears, as well as the depiction of the huqqa, is notable. It allows the viewers to get an insight into the lifestyle and domestic interior in 19th century India in a micro-scale. While the simplicity of the setting makes it possible to concentrate on the main subject of the painting, its very existence was due to artists’ and art patrons’ interest in Indians and their way of life. The work is similar to a huqqa-burdar painted by Amir that is kept in the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum. Olympia Auctions
In general, the painting is both aesthetically pleasing and informative in terms of the cultural history of India.
