The Sheep-eater exhibiting his powers at Fategarh in Uttar Pradesh on 3 March 1796
Painting
ca. 1800 (painted)
ca. 1800 (painted)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
The pictures made by Indian artists for the British in India are called Company paintings. This one shows a famous sheep-eater exhibiting his powers at Fatehgarh, Uttar Pradesh, on 3 March 1796. Major-General Hardwicke saw the performance and read a paper on the subject many years later (in 1832) to the Royal Asiatic Society. The painting shows the various stages of sheep-eating starting on the right, though they are not in strict order. They are: 1. Holding the sheep in the mouth; 2. Tearing open the underside; 3. Drinking the blood; 4. Tearing the ribs out; 5. Tearing the throat out; 6. Devouring the hind quarters; 7. Eating a salad of caustic madar leaves. Sheep-eaters were Aghorîs, members of an extremist Hindu ascetic sect that refused to eat cooked meat.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | The Sheep-eater exhibiting his powers at Fategarh in Uttar Pradesh on 3 March 1796 (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Watercolour on paper |
| Brief description | Painting; watercolour, the sheep-eater exhibiting his powers at Fategarh in Uttar Pradesh on 3 March 1796, Murshidabad, Calcutta, ca. 1800 |
| Physical description | THis painting depicts seven views of a man in a red dhoti eating a sheep. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Credit line | Purchased from Mr. T. Toon (or possibly Mr J.Joon), 38 Leicester Square |
| Historical context | The sheep-eater aroused great interest among a group of the more scholarly British in Upper India. An exhibition given by him at Fatehgarh was witnessed by Major-General Hardwicke on 3 March 1796. After his retirement Hardwicke read a paper on the subject to the Royal Asiatic Society on 21 July 1832 which was published and illustrated by a lithograph based on 'original sketches made on the spot by a native artist for Major-General Hardwicke the 3rd of March 1796'. A painting in oils on wood, dated July 1832, depicting the same incident was presented by him to the Royal Asiatic Society on 21 July 1832. |
| Production | By a Murshidabad artist, probably working in Calcutta |
| Subject depicted | |
| Summary | The pictures made by Indian artists for the British in India are called Company paintings. This one shows a famous sheep-eater exhibiting his powers at Fatehgarh, Uttar Pradesh, on 3 March 1796. Major-General Hardwicke saw the performance and read a paper on the subject many years later (in 1832) to the Royal Asiatic Society. The painting shows the various stages of sheep-eating starting on the right, though they are not in strict order. They are: 1. Holding the sheep in the mouth; 2. Tearing open the underside; 3. Drinking the blood; 4. Tearing the ribs out; 5. Tearing the throat out; 6. Devouring the hind quarters; 7. Eating a salad of caustic madar leaves. Sheep-eaters were Aghorîs, members of an extremist Hindu ascetic sect that refused to eat cooked meat. |
| 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, 82-83 p. ISBN 0944142303 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | IS.11:15-1887 |
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| Record created | January 19, 2000 |
| Record URL |
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