Not currently on display at the V&A

Nob Kishen's nautch party

Watercolour Illustration
1825-1828 (painted)
Artist/Maker
D'Oyly, Charles (Sir) (artist)
Place of origin
Patna (painted)

Watercolour illustration showing a nautch party at which Europeans cavort on chairs, with dancing girls in the background. The assorted chairs depicted include one with the back-looped arms later associated with the courts of the Sikhs.


Object details

Categories
ELISE
Paintings
SCRAN
Object type
Watercolour illustration
TitleNob Kishen's nautch party (popular title)
Materials and techniques
Watercolour on paper
Paper
Watercolour
Painted
Brief description
Watercolour illustration intended for D'Oyly's satirical poem 'Tom Raw, The Griffin', showing a nautch party.
Physical description
Watercolour illustration showing a nautch party at which Europeans cavort on chairs, with dancing girls in the background. The assorted chairs depicted include one with the back-looped arms later associated with the courts of the Sikhs.
Dimensions
  • Width: 23cm
  • Height: 17.4cm
Gallery label
This illustration to the poem, Tom Raw, the Griffin, shows Tom attending a party where Nawab Kishan, a rich Hindu merchant, is entertaining a fashionable party of Europeans to a nautch performance. Other pictures depict Tom sitting for his portrait in George Chinnery’s Calcutta studio and losing money at a lottery.
Object history
Intended as an illustration to Sir Charles D'Oyly's satirical poem 'Tom Raw, The Griffin', London, 1828, but omitted from the published version.
Subjects depicted
Chairs
Parties
Literary referenceintended as an illustration to D'Oyly's satirical poem 'Tom Raw, The Griffin', London, 1828
Bibliographic references
  • Swallow, Deborah: Arts of Asia, vol. 45, no. 5, September - October 2015, " 25 Years of the Nehru Gallery of Indian Art and the Nehru Trust", p. 94, no. 8. Jaffer, A. Furniture from British India and Ceylon: a catalogue of the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Peabody Essex Museum. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 2001. ISBN 1 85177 318 5.p.122, fig.53.
  • Rohatgi P. and Parlett G., assisted by Imray S. and Godrej P. Indian Life and Landscape by Western Artists: Paintings and Drawings from the Victoria and Albert Museum, 17th to the early 20th century. Published by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, Mumbai, in association with V&A, London, 2008. ISBN 81-901020-9-5. p. 201, pl. 9b
  • Patel, Divia; Rohatgi, Pauline and Godrej, Pheroza, "Indian Life and Landscape by Western Artists: an exhibition of paintings and drawings from the 17th to the early 20th century organised by the V&A and CSMVS". Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS), Mumbai and Victoria and Albert Museum, 2008, ISBN:81-901020-8-7 p.42
  • Guy, John and Swallow, Deborah (eds.) Arts of India: 1550-1900. Text by Rosemary Crill, John Guy, Veronica Murphy, Susan Stronge and Deborah Swallow. London : Victoria and Albert Museum, 1990, reprinted 1999. 240 p. : ill. ISBN: 1851770224. p. 204, pl. 182
  • Topsfield, Andrew; cat. no. 106, p. 54
Collection
South & South East Asia Collection
Accession number
IS.2-1980

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Record createdDecember 20, 1999
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O18838/nob-kishens-nautch-party-watercolour-illustration-doyly-charles-sir/
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