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Not currently on display at the V&A

Drawing

ca. 1890 (made)
Artist/Maker
Unknown
Place of origin
Kolkata (made)

Painting, watercolour and tin alloy on paper, an enraged husband has taken off one of his shoes in his right hand, thrown his wife to the ground and caught her by the hair in order to strike her. The wife is holding a small broom in her hand. The husband, a 'Babu' or a dandy is well dressed and he has parted his hair in the 'Albert' (Prince Albert) style.


Object details

Categories
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
Kalighat painting, husband beating his wife with a shoe, watercolour and tin alloy on paper, Kolkata, ca.1890
Physical description
Painting, watercolour and tin alloy on paper, an enraged husband has taken off one of his shoes in his right hand, thrown his wife to the ground and caught her by the hair in order to strike her. The wife is holding a small broom in her hand. The husband, a 'Babu' or a dandy is well dressed and he has parted his hair in the 'Albert' (Prince Albert) style.
Dimensions
  • Height: 453mm
  • Width: 280mm
  • Cardboard mount onto which object attached height: 474mm
  • Cardboard mount onto which object attached width: 302mm
15/05/2013 dimensions measured as part of Indian Paintings Cataloguing Project 2013
Content description
An enraged husband has taken off one of his shoes in his right hand, thrown his wife to the ground and caught her by the hair in order to strike her. The wife is holding a small broom in her hand. The husband, a 'Babu' or a dandy is well dressed and he has parted his hair in the 'Albert' (Prince Albert) style.
Style
Kalighat
Credit line
Given by Ernest H. Hindley, Esq., Lightcliffe[?], Shepherd's Hill, Highgate, N
Object history
Historical significance: Calcutta was recognised as 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.
Subjects depicted
Married Couples
Shoe
Broom
Violence
Bibliographic references
  • Kalighat paintings : a catalogue and introduction / by W.G. Archer. London: H. M. Stationery Office, 1971 Number: 0112900291 : fig. 74, cat. no. 31, xxxv: p.91.
  • Archer, W.G., Bazaar Paintings of Calcutta, Victoria & Albert Museum, H.M.S.O., 1955 p. 23, fig. 34
Collection
South & South East Asia Collection
Accession number
IM.141-1914

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Record createdJanuary 7, 2003
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O72641/drawing-unknown/
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