Gentil Album
Album Page
1774 (painted)
1774 (painted)
| Place of origin |
‘Company paintings' were produced by Indian artists for Europeans living and working in the Indian subcontinent, especially British employees of the East India Company. They represent a fusion of traditional Indian artistic styles with conventions and technical features borrowed from western art. Some Company paintings were specially commissioned, while others were virtually mass-produced and could be purchased in bazaars.
This Company painting is part of an album, now known as the Gentil Album, of 58 paintings commissioned by a French infantry colonel, Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Gentil (1726-1799), who served under Shuja ud-Daula of Awadh from 1762/3 until 1775. Shah Jahan and his peacock throne are depicted here. The throne was removed to Iran by Nadir Shah in 1738/9 and subsequently broken up.
This Company painting is part of an album, now known as the Gentil Album, of 58 paintings commissioned by a French infantry colonel, Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Gentil (1726-1799), who served under Shuja ud-Daula of Awadh from 1762/3 until 1775. Shah Jahan and his peacock throne are depicted here. The throne was removed to Iran by Nadir Shah in 1738/9 and subsequently broken up.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Gentil Album (series title) |
| Materials and techniques | Watercolour on paper |
| Brief description | Gentil; Manuscripts, Col J B J Gentil, Faizabad, 1774. Page number 19. Treaty of the Nawab with the British at Benares in 1765. |
| Physical description | Treaty of the Nawab with the British at Benares in 1765, at which Gentil was present. From the Gentil Album. One of the British is holding out a map. The discussions are taking place in a pavilion surrounded by parterres of flowers. Semi-circle of figures, with table in centre under pavilion. A white dog by flower-beds. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Marks and inscriptions | (Inscribed with notes relating to the illustrations and a list of contents giving Gentil's title and a brief description for each folio. Inscribed inside front cover.) |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Places depicted | |
| Summary | ‘Company paintings' were produced by Indian artists for Europeans living and working in the Indian subcontinent, especially British employees of the East India Company. They represent a fusion of traditional Indian artistic styles with conventions and technical features borrowed from western art. Some Company paintings were specially commissioned, while others were virtually mass-produced and could be purchased in bazaars. This Company painting is part of an album, now known as the Gentil Album, of 58 paintings commissioned by a French infantry colonel, Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Gentil (1726-1799), who served under Shuja ud-Daula of Awadh from 1762/3 until 1775. Shah Jahan and his peacock throne are depicted here. The throne was removed to Iran by Nadir Shah in 1738/9 and subsequently broken up. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | IS.25:20-1980 |
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| Record created | January 18, 2000 |
| Record URL |
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