Page 26 - AstaGuru Masters Legacy April 2024

Lot No. 1

BENJAMIN HUDSON
c.1823-1900

PORTRAIT OF RAJAH PRATAP CHANDRA SINHA
104 x 68.4 in (264.1 x 173.9 cm)
Oil on canvas
Signed: Bottom Right

` 10,00,000 - 15,00,000 | $ 12,195 - 18,293

Provenance: Property originally from a collection
based in Kolkata.

This lot is a registered antique with the Government
of India, under the Antiquities and Art Treasures
Act -1972, under Antiquities and Art Treasures Rule
1973, under section 16 of the above act, with the
Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)

The presented lot is Hudson’s portrait of Rajah
Pratap Chandra Sinha who belonged to the Sinha
family of Paikpara. Born in 1827 in the Roshora
region of Murshidabad, West Bengal, Sinha was given
the title of Raja Bahadur in 1854. Lord Canning, the
then Viceroy of India, appointed Sinha as part of the
Companionship of the Star of India. An advocate
of remarriage in Hindu widows and a proponent of
education, especially amongst girls, he spent a large
part of his life establishing hospitals and schools
in Bengal. Among his many achievements is the
founding of a free dispensary in Paikpara Rajbata,
several primary and high schools and aiding the
establishment of the Calcutta Fever Hospital and
Belgachhia Theatre. Sinha passed away in Paikpara
in 1866.