Gentil Album thumbnail 1
Not currently on display at the V&A

Gentil Album

Album Page
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.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleGentil Album (series title)
Materials and techniques
Watercolour on paper
Brief description
Gentil; Manuscripts, Col J B J Gentil, Faizabad, 1774. Page number 19. Treaty of the Nawab with the British at Benares in 1765.
Physical description
Treaty of the Nawab with the British at Benares in 1765, at which Gentil was present. From the Gentil Album. One of the British is holding out a map. The discussions are taking place in a pavilion surrounded by parterres of flowers. Semi-circle of figures, with table in centre under pavilion. A white dog by flower-beds.
Dimensions
  • Length: 37cm
  • Width: 53.5cm
Style
Marks and inscriptions
(Inscribed with notes relating to the illustrations and a list of contents giving Gentil's title and a brief description for each folio. Inscribed inside front cover.)
Subjects depicted
Places 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 references
  • 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. 1121, fig.38.
  • Archer, Mildred. Company Paintings Indian Paintings of the British period Victoria and Albert Museum Indian Series London: Victoria and Albert Museum, Maplin Publishing, 1992 120 p. ISBN 0944142303
  • India's fabled city : the art of courtly Lucknow / Stephen Markel with Tushara Bindu Gude ; and contributions by Muzaffar Alam ... [et al.]. Munich ;London: Prestel, Johann Gottlieb, c2010 Number: 9783791350752 (hbk.), 3791350757 (hbk.) cat. no. 27, p. 174.
Collection
Accession number
IS.25:20-1980

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Record createdJanuary 18, 2000
Record URL
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