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Drawing thumbnail 2
Not currently on display at the V&A

Drawing

ca. 1830 (made)
Artist/Maker
Unknown
Place of origin
Kolkata (made)

Painting, opaque watercolourand tin alloy on paper, illustration to a Bengali proverb highlighting two pigeons shown back to back, 'as like as two pigeons'. A heavy use of silver colour tin paint has been used to distinguish and highlight the feathers. The painting was probably based on natural history drawings for the British for which there was a great demand from ca. 1780 -1850.


Object details

Categories
Drawings
Animals and Wildlife
Paintings
Bonita Trust Indian Paintings Cataloguing Project
SCRAN
Object type
Drawing
Materials and techniques
Painted in watercolour and tin alloy on paper
Watercolour
Tin Alloy
Paint
Paper
Painted
Brief description
Painting, pair of pigeons, opaque watercolour and tin alloy on paper, Kalighat, Kolkata, ca. 1830
Physical description
Painting, opaque watercolourand tin alloy on paper, illustration to a Bengali proverb highlighting two pigeons shown back to back, 'as like as two pigeons'. A heavy use of silver colour tin paint has been used to distinguish and highlight the feathers. The painting was probably based on natural history drawings for the British for which there was a great demand from ca. 1780 -1850.
Dimensions
  • Height: 275mm
  • Width: 434mm (maximum)
31/07/13 dimensions measured as part of Indian Paintings Cataloguing Project 2013; object irregular in shape
Content description
Illustration to a Bengali proverb highlighting two pigeons shown back to back, 'as like as two pigeons'.
Style
Kalighat
Object history
Historical significance: Calcutta was the Capital of British India from 1833-1912. By the 1830s, artists had arrived from rural villages in Bengal and began to produce paintings that reflected local history, mythology, customs and conflicts of a colonised society. As a popular art form, these artists are recognised for their use of brilliant colour, simplified images and swift brushstrokes that became the hallmark of Kalighat painting in the 19th and early 20th century.
Subject depicted
Pigeons
Bibliographic references
  • Kalighat paintings : a catalogue and introduction / by W.G. Archer. London: H. M. Stationery Office, 1971 Number: 0112900291 : Pl. no. 3, cat. no. 1, xxxiv: p.46.
  • Sinha, Suhashini, and Panda, C, eds. Kalighat Paintings from the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London and Victoria Memorial Hall, Kolkata. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 2012. ISBN 1851776656. p. 67
  • Archer, W.G., Bazaar Paintings of Calcutta, Victoria & Albert Museum, H.M.S.O., 1955 p. 21
Collection
South & South East Asia Collection
Accession number
IS.213-1950

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Record createdDecember 5, 2002
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O71573/drawing-unknown/
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