One of nineteen drawings illustrating processes in the manufacture of opium at the Opium Factory at Gulzarbagh, Patna, in Bihar.
Painting
ca.1857 (made)
ca.1857 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This Company Painting (a painting made by an Indian artist for the British in India) is done on mica (talc) and comes from a series of nineteen illustrating processes in the manufacture of opium at the opium factory at Gulzarbagh in Patna, Bihar. According to the artist Ishwari Prasad, his grandfather, Shiva Lal (c.1817-1887), began to make the designs for these paintings in 1857. They were commissioned by Dr D. R. Lyall (the personal assistant in charge of opium-making) for a series of wall paintings in the Gulzarbagh factory. However, Lyall was killed in 1857, during the so-called Indian Mutiny, and the scheme was abandoned. This picture shows two men carrying a pole over their shoulders to which a crate is attached by means of a rope. The crate is marked 'PATNA OPIUM', followed by an East India Company stamp and a stock number.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | One of nineteen drawings illustrating processes in the manufacture of opium at the Opium Factory at Gulzarbagh, Patna, in Bihar. (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Gouache on mica. |
| Brief description | Paintings, talc, Patna |
| Physical description | Two workers are shown carrying an opium crate away. One of a series representing the processes in the manufacture of opium at the Opium Factory at Gulzarbagh, Patna, in Bihar. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Credit line | Transferred from the India Museum |
| Object history | According to the old Patna artist Ishwari Prasad, the designs for these mica paintings were first made in 1857 by his grandfather, Shiva Lal (ca.1817-ca.1887). |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | This Company Painting (a painting made by an Indian artist for the British in India) is done on mica (talc) and comes from a series of nineteen illustrating processes in the manufacture of opium at the opium factory at Gulzarbagh in Patna, Bihar. According to the artist Ishwari Prasad, his grandfather, Shiva Lal (c.1817-1887), began to make the designs for these paintings in 1857. They were commissioned by Dr D. R. Lyall (the personal assistant in charge of opium-making) for a series of wall paintings in the Gulzarbagh factory. However, Lyall was killed in 1857, during the so-called Indian Mutiny, and the scheme was abandoned. This picture shows two men carrying a pole over their shoulders to which a crate is attached by means of a rope. The crate is marked 'PATNA OPIUM', followed by an East India Company stamp and a stock number. |
| 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 201 p. ISBN 0944142303 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 07361:18/(IS) |
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| Record created | December 15, 1999 |
| Record URL |
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