London letter: British govt bans export of rare 19th-century Kangra hill paintings

The British government has placed a temporary export bar on a rare, near-complete series of 56 early 19th-century Kangra hill paintings illustrating the Devi Mahatmya — the story of the Divine Mother — in an effort to keep the works in the country. The move gives British museums and institutions a final window to raise funds and acquire the set before it can be sold abroad.

The paintings carry a distinguished Indian provenance, previously owned by Dr Alma Camruddin Latifi, a Cambridge-educated Indian Muslim civil servant from Bombay’s Sulaymani Bohra community.

After earning an MA and LLM at St John’s College, Cambridge, he returned to India and rose through senior positions in the Punjab and Hyderabad states. He served as Director of Public Instruction in Hyderabad from 1913 to 1916, later sat on the Punjab Legislative Council.

Latifi was also collector of Indian art. For educated Indians of his era miniature painting was viewed less as a religious possession than as part of India’s shared civilisational heritage. Latifi’s holdings spanned manuscripts, paintings and antiquities acquired during his administrative career and travels, reflecting a broad engagement with India’s cultural and artistic traditions.

After his death in 1959, the Devi Mahatmya series remained in family hands before eventually being placed with Spink & Son, the long-established London dealer specialising in Asian art. For decades Spink acted as a discreet custodian for South Asian families who stored manuscripts, jewellery and miniatures while deciding whether to sell.

The paintings themselves originate from the Kangra school of the Pahari hill tradition, centred in the Himalayan foothills of what is now Himachal Pradesh. Dating to around 1810, they exemplify the lyrical naturalism characteristic of Kangra hill painting: finely modelled figures, expressive faces, soft colour harmonies and landscapes of rolling hills, blossoming trees and serene riverbanks. The Devi Mahatmya — recounting the Goddess’s battles against demons and her cosmic role as protector — was a favourite subject of Kangra royal studios.

This series includes scenes ranging from violent combat to contemplative worship. One image, depicting the defeated Gods Vishnu and Shiva imploring the Goddess for assistance, is thought to be unique to this set.

Although Britain already holds many important Indian paintings — from Mughal and Deccan miniatures at the British Museum to Pahari folios at the V&A and the Ashmolean — fully intact narrative cycles are exceptionally rare.

Debates over restitution have intensified in recent years, with increasing scrutiny of how Indian art entered British museums in the first place, how it has been displayed, and how its meaning has been interpreted for Western audiences.

British understanding of Pahari painting was shaped for decades by figures such as William George Archer, whose influence is now viewed critically. Archer, who later styled himself as an expert on Pahari art, had a far darker record in India. As District Magistrate of Patna during the Quit India uprising, he ordered police to open fire on unarmed schoolboys attempting to hoist the national flag over the Patna Secretariat on August 11, 1942, killing several teenagers. The incident is commemorated at the Shaheed Smarak in Patna and remembered as one of the most shameful episodes of colonial repression.

His later art-historical reputation has also collapsed: Art experts have noted that Archer’s supposed “multiple sources” often reduced to a single informant and that his stylistic categories reflected imperial habits of classification rather than genuine historical insight. Today he is remembered less as a scholar than as an enforcer of colonial violence whose writings require cautious and critical reassessment.

Each folio of the Latifi set is painted in opaque pigments with gold and silver, accompanied by Sanskrit and Hindi inscriptions identifying the episodes. Fifty-six folios survive out of an original fifty-nine, making the set one of the most complete narrative cycles of its kind in the United Kingdom.

The temporary export bar was issued following the advice of the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest, an independent expert body administered by Arts Council England. The Committee assesses whether the departure of a cultural object would cause a significant loss to the United Kingdom’s artistic, historical or scholarly resources. When it judges an object to be of exceptional importance under the Waverley Criteria, it can recommend a deferral period to allow UK institutions time to raise funds for a matching offer.

Culture Minister Baroness Twycross said the paintings were “not only beautiful, but unique in the United Kingdom,” stressing that a near-complete sequence offers scholars an opportunity to deepen understanding of court workshop practices, devotional storytelling and the visual expression of female divine power.

The recommended purchase price is £280,000 plus £16,000 VAT, a total of £296,000 — approximately Rs 3.43 crore. The export licence is deferred until February 20, 2026. If a UK institution makes a matching offer, the owners — believed to be heirs or representatives of the Latifi family — must consider it. A further three-month period will then be allowed to finalise the acquisition.