“Pan”, folio from the album Fishes of India
c. 1810
Description
The fish is painted in the center of the page, and from a bird’s-eye view. It is teardrop shaped, with a round head and tapering tail. The fish has two round eyes and a curved, triangular snout. It has a continuous row of lateral fins that extend the entire length of the body and taper into the tail. It is light brown in color with some mottling. The page has inscriptions in ink and pencil the lower third of the composition. One inscription identifies the fish as “Pan”, which most likely is referring to Brachirus pan, a type of sole native to the Indo-Pacific. This work falls into the genre of natural history documentation, an important enterprise undertaken by many European patrons during their time in India. This genre proliferated between the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, and demonstrate the artist's intention of making quick studies from life. Individual paintings were collected to form an album that documented a variety of animals and plants, thus acting, in a way, as a field guide. Company School.
Dimensions
28.58 x 48.26 cm (11 1/4 x 19 in.)
Related Artworks
View MoreUnmounted drawing: ink on paper
19th centuryJapaneseWatercolor, oil, white gouache and graphite on off-white wove paper
19th-20th centuryAmericanBlack ink on tracing paper, darkened and mounted to laid paper
19th centuryFrenchWatercolor and brown ink, white gouache, over graphite on cream wove paper
19th centuryFrenchWatercolor over graphite on off-white wove paper
19th centuryAmericanCharcoal on off-white laid paper
19th-20th centuryAmericanBlack ink and graphite on off-white wove wove paper
19th centuryBritishWatercolor and graphite on cream wove paper
19th centuryAmericanGraphite on blue-flecked wove paper
19th-20th centuryAmericanGraphite with extensive stumping and erasure on off-white wove paper
19th centuryGermanInk and color on paper; Rajput Style, Kota or Bundi School
19th centuryIndian