ca. 1800 - ca. 1810

Painting, in opaque watercolour on paper, scenes from a school, a teacher with pupils. This narrative shows two scenes: the first, in the foreground, and the second in the upper right hand corner of the image. In the foreground is a seated teacher, in the centre, facing right, dressed in a blue jama flecked with gold, blessing a child dressed in yellow, who bows before him; the child's father or guardian sits behind. Seven other pupils sit behind and near the teacher and an eighth boy is standing in the kukkar, or cockerel, position as a punishment. Each pupil has a book that opens to the left and is therefore probably in Persian or Arabic. The scene is set in a courtyard enclosed by niched walls; there is a grey pavilion to the left and niched walls, and a tree to the right. The floor is spread with a bright red carpet with an arabesque pattern, the teacher has a white rug. The second scene at upper right repeats the courtyard in a simplified form. The teacher watches as the pupil and his guardian walk away; there is a small section of undulating landscape beyond the walls. The cut hair of the teacher suggests he is not a Sikh, according to the painting conventions of the time.