Rudolf Swoboda (1859-1914)
Syed Mustafa Signed and dated 1893
Oil on canvas | 67.6 x 52.5 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 403643
Durbar Entrance Hall, Osborne House
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Syed Mustafa was engaged as an Indian cook in the Queen’s service. Mustafa is identified as 'The Queen's Senior Indian Attendant' in an illustrated article on 'The Queen's Personal Interest in India', by Ahmad Raffiuddin, The English Illustrated Magazine, 1898. He was replaced by Sheikh Chidda, whose portrait is also in the Royal Collection (RCIN 403829), on 1 January 1892 and was pensioned off in July 1901. After this portrait was made, in 1898, Mustafa (sometimes written 'Mustapha' in Royal Household records) was presented with the Victoria Faithful Service Medal.
Here he wears a red tunic with the cipher of the Queen Empress (Victoria was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Empress of India). He is shown wearing a very similar uniform, attending the Queen; Beatrice, Princess Henry of Battenberg, and Princess Helena Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein, in a photograph taken in Nice in 1895 (RCIN 2905283).
Signed and dated: Rudolf.Swoboda / 1893.Provenance
Painted for Queen Victoria.
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Creator(s)
(artists' materials maker) -
Medium and techniques
Oil on canvas
Measurements
67.6 x 52.5 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external)
100.2 x 85.1 cm (frame, external)
Category
Object type(s)
Other number(s)
Alternative title(s)
Ghulum Mustafa