King Ghazi Al-Din Haidar of Awadh with British Guests

ca. 1840

Ghazi Al-Din Haidar (1769−1827), the nawab and king of Avadh in north-eastern India, receives two British couples as his guests at breakfast. The curtains on either side emphasise the theatrical nature of the scene. The nawab is even wearing the diamond studded crown designed for him by the painter Robert Home, active in the capital Lucknow as official artist to the court and the author of numerous portraits of his royal master. The man on his right appears to be Mordaunt Ricketts, then representative of the East India Company in Lucknow, accompanied by his wife Charlotte. The soldier could be the commander of his escort. Commissioned after the sovereign’s death, the painting was probably intended to commemorate his reign.