A cook and his wife
Painting
ca. 1770 (painted)
ca. 1770 (painted)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
One of thirty-six paintings of castes and occupations of South India showing a man and wife with the attributes of their trade. Inscribed on border at bottom in English, with name of caste or occupation: all the paintings were mounted in an album with a watermark, J. Ruse 1799, and a bookplate bearing the name of Joseph Whatley and the Latin motto 'Pelle Timorem' (banish fear).
All the paintings have a red border, a strip of tangled cloud at the top, heavy looped shadows attached to the feet, and a dark green ground. However, they appear to be by three different hands: one with strongly-drawn figures against a Yellow background, one with more detailed figures against a deep blue background, and a third with weaker figures against green and blue backgrounds.
All the paintings have a red border, a strip of tangled cloud at the top, heavy looped shadows attached to the feet, and a dark green ground. However, they appear to be by three different hands: one with strongly-drawn figures against a Yellow background, one with more detailed figures against a deep blue background, and a third with weaker figures against green and blue backgrounds.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | A cook and his wife (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Opaque watercolour on paper |
| Brief description | Painting; Gouache, A cook and his wife, Tanjore, ca. 1770 |
| Physical description | A cook and his wife, the man in a purple jacket with yellow lacings holding a chicken and a kettle; the woman holding a basket and a fish. One of a series of thirty-six paintings of castes and occupations of South India. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Marks and inscriptions | Inscribed: Cook-Boy. No. 2 (English; Roman; On lower border) |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | One of thirty-six paintings of castes and occupations of South India showing a man and wife with the attributes of their trade. Inscribed on border at bottom in English, with name of caste or occupation: all the paintings were mounted in an album with a watermark, J. Ruse 1799, and a bookplate bearing the name of Joseph Whatley and the Latin motto 'Pelle Timorem' (banish fear). All the paintings have a red border, a strip of tangled cloud at the top, heavy looped shadows attached to the feet, and a dark green ground. However, they appear to be by three different hands: one with strongly-drawn figures against a Yellow background, one with more detailed figures against a deep blue background, and a third with weaker figures against green and blue backgrounds. |
| 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, 46 p. ISBN 0944142303 |
| Other number | 9128 - Previous number |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | AL.9128:23 |
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| Record created | December 15, 1999 |
| Record URL |
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