'Paintings of native Indian figures on talc from Trichinopoly 1869'
Scope and Contents
Miniature coloured portraits of 36 Indian figures, painted on very thin sheets of flexible mica in Trichinopoly, southern India, in 1869. Trichinopoly was the British name for Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu. Mica paintings were produced in standard sets for the colonial tourist market, and imitated paintings on glass which were popular in Europe. They were also used in India by artists for preserving tracings of their family paintings and to decorate glass for temple lanterns. The name of the artist is unknown. A pencil note reads 'Painted by a Native in talc.'
Dates
- Creation: 1869
Conditions Governing Access
May only be viewed by appointment with curator or conservator.
Extent
4 archive box(es) (36 miniatures and original album in 4 boxes) : art work
Language of Materials
English
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
fragile condition. The paintings have been rehoused and stored with the original album in the RCS artefact collection.
Former / Other Reference
Case A55
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Stamped by the Royal Empire Society 31 Oct. 1935.
Existence and Location of Copies
Copies have been published on the Cambridge Digital Library:
http://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-RCMS-00352/1
General
This description was created by MJC.
Originator(s)
Unknown
- Date
- 2010-03-17 14:18:34+00:00
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Cambridge University Library Repository
Cambridge University Library
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Cambridge CB3 9DR United Kingdom
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all other enquiries: mss@lib.cam.ac.uk