Model of a Sikh soldier of the 15th (Pioneers) Regiment of Punjab Infantry, 1860 (c)

Painted plaster on a wire armature, made by an Indian artist, Bengal, 1860 (c).

During the Indian Mutiny (1857-1859), Captain Robert Shebbeare (1827-1860) of the 60th Bengal Native Infantry won the Victoria Cross for his conduct during the assault on Delhi on 14 September 1857. During the Mutiny he raised a new Sikh regiment, the 15th (Pioneers) Regiment of Punjab Infantry.

This figure was likely to have been commissioned by him from an Indian artist as a memento. Shebbeare set-off back to England after the 2nd China War in 1860 but died on the voyage home.

This and a number of other figures were found among his possessions and donated to the National Army Museum by his great-nephew.