Rites and Festivals of Muslims and the main Hindu Castes
Album Page
1774 (painted)
1774 (painted)
| Place of origin |
‘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.
This Company painting is part of an album, now known as the Gentil Album, of 58 paintings commissioned by a French infantry colonel, Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Gentil (1726-1799), who served under Shuja ud-Daula of Awadh from 1762/3 until 1775. Shah Jahan and his peacock throne are depicted here. The throne was removed to Iran by Nadir Shah in 1738/9 and subsequently broken up.
This Company painting is part of an album, now known as the Gentil Album, of 58 paintings commissioned by a French infantry colonel, Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Gentil (1726-1799), who served under Shuja ud-Daula of Awadh from 1762/3 until 1775. Shah Jahan and his peacock throne are depicted here. The throne was removed to Iran by Nadir Shah in 1738/9 and subsequently broken up.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Rites and Festivals of Muslims and the main Hindu Castes (series title) |
| Materials and techniques | Watercolour on paper |
| Brief description | Gentil; Manuscripts, Col J B J Gentil, Faizabad, 1774. Page number 29 (Gentil numbered two successive pages '22'). Muslim festivals. The text on the back of this page relates to the next image, IS.25:31-1980. |
| Physical description | Muslim festivals: Chabrat in memory of the dead; Bakr Id in memory of the sacrifice of Isaac; the end of Ramadan, called 'Fete de la paque' (Easter) by Gentil. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Place depicted | |
| Summary | ‘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. This Company painting is part of an album, now known as the Gentil Album, of 58 paintings commissioned by a French infantry colonel, Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Gentil (1726-1799), who served under Shuja ud-Daula of Awadh from 1762/3 until 1775. Shah Jahan and his peacock throne are depicted here. The throne was removed to Iran by Nadir Shah in 1738/9 and subsequently broken up. |
| 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 121 p. ISBN 0944142303
Chanchal Dadlani, ‘Transporting India. The Gentil Album and Mughal Manuscript Culture’, Art History. 2025, pp. 748-761 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | IS.25:30-1980 |
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| Record created | January 18, 2000 |
| Record URL |
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