A hand-written label on the reverse of the frame reads ‘Portrait of Lall Sing / favourite minister of / the Ranee Regent / widow of Ranjit Singh.’

After the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, his youngest widow, Rani Jind Kaur acted as regent to her infant son, Duleep Singh. Her brother, Jawahar Singh, who also acted as vizier, was killed in 1845. Raja Lal Singh or Lal Singh Dogra became the next Vizier of Lahore. Lal Singh, along with Rani Jind Kaur are said to have contacted the British Resident at Lahore and secretly plotted to instigate the first Anglo-Sikh war, in order to prevent a coup taking place within the palace walls.

The painting has been attributed to August Theodor Schoefft (1809-1888), a Hungarian artist. In 1835, Schoefft travelled to India and worked in Lahore at the court of Maharaja Ranjit Singh where he painted his best known work, ‘The Court at Lahore’. He is known to have spent a year at Lahore painting various scenes and portraits of prominent members of the Sikh court.
For other works attributed to or by the artist, which had sold at auction recently, see Christie’s, King Street, 15 December 2016, lot 55; 7 October 2009, lot 144.