New Hendog spotted outside Cabinet Rooms in Winchester

Hendog, an anonymous graffiti artist, has painted a woman in a dress and shawl outside Cabinet Rooms on Jewry Street in the city centre, opposite The ARC.

Hendog took to Instagram to publish their latest piece on Monday, April 8, titled 'Bapsybanoo'. Followers of Hendog's Instagram account and users of the social media platform expressed their delight at the new piece of artwork situation in the city.

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Bapsybanoo Pavry, Marchioness of Winchester, was an Indian socialite and aristocrat. In 1952, she married Henry Paulet, 16th Marquess of Winchester and became the Marchioness of Winchester, thought to be the only Indian Marchioness in history.

Her husband, the Marquess left Pavry within weeks of the marriage for his former fiancée Eve Fleming, the mother of Ian Fleming, the James Bond author.

The Marchioness lived for a short time in Hampshire but after separating from her husband, left to live in London.

After the death of her brother in 1985, the Marchioness returned to India and lived out the rest of her life there, dying in 1995.

She bequeathed £600,000 to Winchester to be used to build a community centre on the grounds of the Winchester Guildhall in her name.

In June 2009, Winchester City Council refurbished and renamed a room in the Guildhall after 'Bapsy', with a huge portrait of her in her state robes taking pride of place.

A flood of comments followed the new piece of artwork on Hendog's Instagram account, with one user saying: "Saw it earlier today and loved it!"

View of Hendog's new mural at Cabinet Rooms (Image: Newsquest)

Another user said: "Insane. Might be one of my favourites", while another added: "Absolutely love this. Drove past it today and thought 'that's cool, looks like a Hendog'... and there it is, confirmed right here!"

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Cabinet Rooms owner Gary Whiter said: "We worked with Hendog on the piece and are absolutely thrilled with the end product. They are an artist whose work we admire, and someone who is very invested in the Winchester community. We have known them for a while and wanted to bring something different to the Cabinet Rooms.

"Bapsybanoo has been a massive figure in Winchester and is someone who has done a lot for the city, with many benefitting from her kindness and generosity, so it seemed right to honour her in our own way. We're over the moon with how it has turned out."

The mural is Hendog's second new piece in Winchester in 2024, with a girl playing with a daisy chain painted on the St George's Square Bus Shelter in Bishop’s Waltham in February.

 Other Hendog murals in Winchester include a series of teddy bears, a young girl picking flower petals in Market Street, and ‘Christmas Kev’ by Winchester Bus Station.

The street artist had made his mark at the bottom of St Catherine’s Hill several years ago with his original piece ‘boy with a kite’ on the wall next to the footpath near the Handlebar Café.