NAM.1956-02-622-1

Colonel James Skinner CB (1778-1841), 1st Regiment of Local Horse, 1836 (c). Oil on canvas, signed in Urdu ‘Ghulam Husayn Khan mussavar [painter]’, by Ghulam Husayn Khan (fl 1830-1868), traditionally said to be a copy of the portrait by William Melville (fl 1830-1847), 1836 (c) (in the vestry of St James’s Church, Delhi). Half-length, in uniform, wearing the badge of a Companion of the Bath (CB); hand on sword hilt. The son of an officer in the East India Company’s service and a Rajput woman, James Skinner was commissioned into Sindhia’s Maratha Army and took part in a number of actions. On the outbreak of the 2nd Maratha War (1803-1805), Skinner transferred to the army of General Gerard Lake and raised an irregular regiment of horse. Skinner’s Horse became renowned for its yellow uniform, the troops being nicknamed ‘The Yellow Boys’. In reward for his services, Skinner acquired a huge estate at Hansi which became his regimental headquarters. He is buried in St James’s Church, Delhi, which he built and where the original portrait by Melville hangs.