Design for a monument to the First Punjab War, 1845-46

Anonymous, British, 19th century

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This monument was conceived after the Treaty of Lahore (March 9, 1846) ended the First Punjab War, a conflict between Sikh princes and the British East India Company in northwest India, which resulted in significant territory being ceded to Britain. A large sculptural panel on the front commemorates the Battle of Sobraon (February 10, 1846) where British and Bengali troops prevailed over their Sikh opponents after intense hand-to-hand fighting. A panel at right, rendered obliquely, is identified as showing the Battle of Moodkee (December 18, 1845) at the start of the war. No related monument appears to have ever been built, probably because the Second Punjab and Crimean Wars (1848–9, 1853–56) diverted funds and attention. The unknown designer was influenced by Nelson’s Column (1840–43), recently erected in Trafalgar Square and similarly adorned with battle reliefs and recumbent lions.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.

Metropolitan Museum of Art