“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 MoreTop: black and brown inks, watercolor and graphite on off-white wove paper; Bottom: red ink and graphite on off-white modern laid paper; pricked and verso rubbed with red chalk (recto)
19th centuryPersianOpaque watercolor and gold on paper
19th centuryIndianOpaque watercolor on paper
19th centuryIndianOpaque watercolor on paper
19th centuryIndianOpaque watercolor on paper
19th centuryIndianInk, opaque watercolor and gold on paper
19th centuryPersianWatercolor on paper
19th centuryPersianInk, opaque watercolor and gold on paper
19th centuryPersianOpaque watercolor on paper
19th centuryIndianBlack counterproof on off-white laid paper (recto); Colored inks and watercolor over black chalk on three sheets of off-white wove paper, mounted together (verso)
18th-19th centuryPersianOpaque watercolor on paper
19th centuryIndian