Indian Company School, Set of 8 Indian Bird Paintings on Mica – Mid-19th-century gouache painting
Indian Company School, Set of 8 Indian Bird Paintings on Mica – Mid-19th-century gouache painting
Indian Company School, Set of 8 Indian Bird Paintings on Mica – Mid-19th-century gouache painting
Indian Company School, Set of 8 Indian Bird Paintings on Mica – Mid-19th-century gouache painting
Indian Company School, Set of 8 Indian Bird Paintings on Mica – Mid-19th-century gouache painting
Indian Company School, Set of 8 Indian Bird Paintings on Mica – Mid-19th-century gouache painting
Indian Company School, Set of 8 Indian Bird Paintings on Mica – Mid-19th-century gouache painting
Indian Company School, Set of 8 Indian Bird Paintings on Mica – Mid-19th-century gouache painting
Indian Company School, Set of 8 Indian Bird Paintings on Mica – Mid-19th-century gouache painting
Indian Company School, Set of 8 Indian Bird Paintings on Mica – Mid-19th-century gouache painting
Indian Company School, Set of 8 Indian Bird Paintings on Mica – Mid-19th-century gouache painting

Indian Company School Set of 8 Indian Bird Paintings on Mica

£1,600.00
£1,600.00
Agotado
View the full Collection: Indian Mica Paintings

A Set of 8 original mid-19th-century gouache paintings on mica – Indian Company School, Indian Birds.

A superb set of finely painted bird subjects in gouache on mica.

Subjects comprise:

Sharpes Starling;
Slender-billed scimitar-babbler;
Long-tailed Shrike;
Heart-spotted Woodpecker;
Brahminy Kite;
Treecreeper;
Slender-billed Oriole Bird;
Indian Paradise Flycatcher.

Each mica: 14.5 x 10cm. Each sheet is loose with no mount or backing.

Natural history subjects and India's native flora and fauna became popular amongst Western patrons and collectors in the late 18th and early 19th century. In Lucknow, General Claude Martin provided imported European paper to artists to prepare botanical studies and other natural history works, whilst in Calcutta, Mary, Lady Impey (wife of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in Bengal, Elijah Impey) had a menagerie where she employed artists to paint a variety of animals and birds. Also in Calcutta, Dr William Roxburgh, superintendent of Calcutta Botanical Garden from 1793, appointed local artists to make botanical studies of the specimens in his charge. The efforts of Martin, Impey, Roxburgh and their artists gave rise to a large body of Company Paintings dedicated to natural history.

Company School paintings of birds not only make for a valuable ornithological record, but also allow for beautiful decorative compositions, with jewel-like colours and fine feather detail. Indian Company paintings on mica are rare; it is estimated that as of now, there are only around 7,000 mica paintings available in the world.

+ Read the S&W Collection Research

Indian Mica Paintings

Indian mica paintings featured a wide range of subject matter, including Hindu gods and goddesses, religious events, trades people and flora and fauna of the subcontinent. They were very popular around the middle of the nineteenth century, being produced for the colonial tourist market: they imitated paintings on glass, which were popular in Europe at the time.

Mica paintings are generally small, and painted in gouache on one side of very thin, flexible sheets. Mica is a transparent mineral which is found throughout south India. The mica is formed between strata of granite, and the transparency of the material is a result of the heat and pressure created between layers of rock. Mica consists of many interlocking platelets, resulting in a laminar structure which can be split easily into thin sheets.

The appeal of mica as a support for painting is due to its very smooth surface: the paint sits on it without sinking in, making the colours very intense. Mica is a very brittle substance, however, meaning that it is relatively rare to find examples in perfect condition.

COA
+ Artwork Details

Dimensions: Height: 14.5cm (5.71") Width: 10cm (3.94")

Presented: Unframed.

Medium: Gouache

Age: Mid-19th-century

Signed: No.

Inscribed: No.

Dated: --

Condition: Minor small spots of flaked paint in places, which do not detract from the overall impression; slightly more significant loss on the woodpecker painting. Some minor paint smudges towards the upper edges of the sheets. Upper edge losses to the Oriole mica and lower left corner loss to the Flycatcher mica. Please see photos for detail.

Stock number: KE-062