drawing;
print study
- Museum number
- 1937,0308.17
- Description
-
Fort Talnier, Lt Col MacGregor-Murray withstanding his adversaries; the Lt Col stands in centre about to draw his sword, surrounded by angry crowd of Indians with spears, sabres and knives, in right foreground another British soldier tumbles injured to the ground as figures attack him with spears, knives and guns, a third soldier lies dead to right, pierced by arrow in skull. 1818
Watercolour touched with bodycolour
- Production date
- 1818
- Dimensions
-
Height: 272 millimetres
-
Width: 361 millimetres
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
- Lt Col Macgregor-Murray survived this attack and died in 1841 when he was Governor of Barbados. One of the other officers may be a Captain Peter MacGregor who died in the siege of Fort Talnier (information from Malcolm MacGregor of MacGregor, a descendant, communication Oct. 2009).
The fall of Fort Talnar occured during the Third Anglo-Maratha War, of 1817–18. Sir Thomas Hislop (1764-1843) was commander- in-chief of the Army of the Deccan; when the fort of Talnar refused to surrender to the British forces, Hislop ordered its governor hanged as a traitor and the garrison of 300 men killed. Hislop's actions were considered unwarrantedly severe by the Governor-General of India and the House of Commons.
This watercolour and 1937,0308.18 were reproduced as aquatints in 1819 by the publisher John Hudson with an accompanying text which gives the military particulars of the Fort Talnar affair.
Literature:
H. M. Chichester, rev. Alex May, ‘Hislop, Sir Thomas, first baronet (1764–1843)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004
- Location
- Not on display
- Associated events
- Associated Event: English History
- Acquisition date
- 1937
- Acquisition notes
- This item has an uncertain or incomplete provenance for the years 1933-45. The British Museum welcomes information and assistance in the investigation and clarification of the provenance of all works during that era.
Correspondance from Ashton-Lofthouse to the Department of Prints & Drawings in 1936 records that this drawing was purchased by his brother some years ago at the sale of Sir Joseph P Bond (q.v.).
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- 1937,0308.17