Painting
ca. 1870 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Painting, in watercolour and tin alloy on paper, a well dressed male or 'Calcutta Babu' immaculately dressed in a pleated white dhoti holding a red rose in his left hand and a cane in his right. A 'Chamchika', type of small bat, is depicted next to the Babu and behind him at home nothing remains but musk rats having a music party. The picture is a satire of people who are outwardly show-off but without any substance. Here the Babu is also compared with a bat which is considered as a low life nocturnal animal.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Painted in watercolour and tin alloy on paper |
| Brief description | Painting of a proverb 'Well Dressed Outside, at Home Musk-Rats Screech', watercolour and tin alloy on paper, Kalighat, Kolkata, ca. 1870 |
| Physical description | Painting, in watercolour and tin alloy on paper, a well dressed male or 'Calcutta Babu' immaculately dressed in a pleated white dhoti holding a red rose in his left hand and a cane in his right. A 'Chamchika', type of small bat, is depicted next to the Babu and behind him at home nothing remains but musk rats having a music party. The picture is a satire of people who are outwardly show-off but without any substance. Here the Babu is also compared with a bat which is considered as a low life nocturnal animal. |
| Dimensions |
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| Content description | A well dressed male or 'Calcutta Babu' immaculately dressed in a pleated white dhoti holding a red rose in his left hand and a cane in his right. A 'Chamchika', type of small bat, is depicted next to the Babu and behind him at home nothing remains but musk rats having a music party. The picture is a satire of people who are outwardly show-offs but without any substance. Here the Babu is also compared with a bat which is considered as a low life nocturnal animal. |
| Style | |
| Object history | Following in the satirical style of 19th century Kalighat artists, this painting illustrates the Bengali proverb 'While he shows off the pleats of his expensive dhoti outside, at home musk-rats move about at will'. Jain (1999). |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | IS.117-1958 |
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| Record created | November 18, 2002 |
| Record URL |
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