Skip to main content

Group of Kashmir females, 1864

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3022D/49

Scope and Contents

291 x 218 mm. Group portrait of Kashmiri women seated on a carpet in a court yard. This is almost certainly the group Bourne had such difficulty posing during his 1864 expedition, ‘By no amount of talking and acting could I get them to stand or sit in any easy, natural attitude ... The English Commissioner at Srinnugur ... gave an order to have a number of the best looking girls collected, of whom I was to take a group. They were very shy at making their appearance in daylight, as, like the owl, they are birds of night. They came decked out in all their rings and jewellery, and all their silk holiday attire; but, on taking a cursory glance at them when they were all assembled, with the exception of two or three, one could not help coming to the conclusion that if these were the prettiest, the rest must be miserably ugly. Much to my annoyance, a number of gentlemen had assembled "to see the fun", and their presence by no means added to the composure of my fair sitters. They squatted themselves down on the carpet which had been provided for them, and absolutely refused to move an inch for any purpose of posing; so, after trying in vain to get them into something like order, I was obliged to take them as they were, the picture, of course, being far from a good one' (B.J.P., 25 January 1867, p. 39). Bourne no. 809.

Dates

  • Creation: 1864

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

From the Fonds:

Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).

Language of Materials

English

Originator(s)

Bourne, Samuel, 1834-1912, photographer

Finding aid date

2011-01-11 14:21:11+00:00

Includes index.

Repository Details

Part of the Cambridge University Library Repository

Contact:
Cambridge University Library
West Road
Cambridge CB3 9DR United Kingdom