Not currently on display at the V&A

A group of dancing-girls and musicians

Painting
ca. 1815 (painted)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This Company painting is from a set of four depicting inhabitants of Delhi around 1815; they may be by the artist Faiz Ali Khan. This one shows a troupe of three dancing-girls and four musicians performing in front of a male official and a group of women, some of whom are smoking huqqas.

'Company paintings' were produced by Indian artists for Europeans living and working in the Indian subcontinent, especially British employees of the East India Company. They represent a fusion of traditional Indian artistic styles with conventions and technical features borrowed from western art. Some Company paintings were specially commissioned, while others were virtually mass-produced and could be purchased in bazaars.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleA group of dancing-girls and musicians (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Opaque watercolour on paper
Brief description
Painting, A group of dancing girls, Delhi, ca.1815
Physical description
A group of dancing girls and musicians are in the foreground with a view of a hilly landscape and river in the background. In the immediate foreground on the right and left appear other girls and women smoking huqqas.
Dimensions
  • Height: 31cm
  • Width: 42cm
Style
Credit line
Given by Miss M. Letitia Harford, OBE
Object history
Dalrymple, William and Sharma, Yuthika (eds). Princes and Painters in Mughal Delhi, 1707-1857. New York : Asia Society ; New Haven [Conn.] : Yale University Press, 2012. ISBN 9780300176667 ; 030017666X. p. 140-1 cat. no. 55.
Subjects depicted
Summary
This Company painting is from a set of four depicting inhabitants of Delhi around 1815; they may be by the artist Faiz Ali Khan. This one shows a troupe of three dancing-girls and four musicians performing in front of a male official and a group of women, some of whom are smoking huqqas.

'Company paintings' were produced by Indian artists for Europeans living and working in the Indian subcontinent, especially British employees of the East India Company. They represent a fusion of traditional Indian artistic styles with conventions and technical features borrowed from western art. Some Company paintings were specially commissioned, while others were virtually mass-produced and could be purchased in bazaars.
Bibliographic reference
Archer, Mildred. Company Paintings Indian Paintings of the British period Victoria and Albert Museum Indian Series London: Victoria and Albert Museum, Maplin Publishing, 1992 155 p. ISBN 0944142303
Collection
Accession number
IS.70-1977

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Record createdDecember 15, 1999
Record URL
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