Not known as it was sold by Christies in October 2025
Mihr Chand’s Colonel Polier’s Watching a Nautch looks more like an impression of one particular evening than a formal court painting. Here we see Colonel Antoine Polier, sitting comfortably on a bright yellow couch, dressed in Indian clothes and a turban, smoking his huqqa and watching two women perform a nautch. Musicians are seated behind them, giving the impression we have stepped into the middle of a real performance. This is a nite scene, which makes it even more atmospheric. Small lamps and candles illuminate the terrace, and in the distance fireworks light up the dark sky and their reflections are visible on the water. The whole setting has something almost magical about it. But Polier himself is what I find most interesting. He’s the kind of guy who’s comfortable living in two different worlds. The furniture, especially the curious yellow couch, suggests his European background, but almost everything else about him is thoroughly Indian. He is dressed in Indian costume, and seated among cushions and musicians, he passes the evening with a huqqa. Mihr Chand seems to put this mixture together without making it feel forced. The small, intimate details also make the painting very personal. The colourful clothes of the dancers, their jewellery, the musical instruments, the lamps and even the objects placed around Polier make us feel that this is a lived in space and not an imagined one. At the same time, the bright colours and the fireworks give the scene a slightly dreamlike quality. One can readily imagine the sound of music and the movement of the dancers and the excitement of the fireworks beyond the terrace. Polier’s interest in Indian culture and art is also evident in the painting. Mihr Chand takes this world that Polier admired and makes it visually lush and intimate. What makes the painting memorable is this contrast of everyday pleasure and cultural exchange. It tells of the time when a European man was deeply immersed in the social and artistic world around him and an Indian artist was finding new ways of representing that experience.
The painting depicts Antoine-Louis Henri Polier, a Swiss-born engineer and officer for the British East India Company. After growing dissatisfied with the Company, he entered the service of Shuja-ud-Daula, the Nawab of Awadh. Polier is shown adopting the lifestyle of a wealthy Indian prince. He is seated comfortably on a plush yellow settee, dressed in fine Mughal attire, smoking a waterpipe (hookah). He is watching a nautch—a traditional North Indian performance by professional dancing women and accompanying musicians. Mihr Chand utilizes a classic Mughal visual genre by placing the gathering on an open terrace at dusk or night, a frequent setting for royal leisure.Proving its pedigree, the painting is signed at the bottom in Persian script: "Mihr Chand, son of Gunga Ram". Mihr Chand was highly regarded for combining meticulous Mughal miniature techniques with a refined understanding of European portraiture elements.
