Legends of the past ...and the present

Sarika Sharma

When the French, Dutch and English came for trade to India in the 17th century, the need for documentation of exotic India was fulfilled by Indian artists. These works came to be known as the company school and are the focus of art curator Seema Bhalla’s exhibition, The Allure of India, Company Painting. The exhibition is her take on the shared heritage of art and trade of the three companies from 17th to 19th century and is told through miniature paintings. In doing so, the exhibition celebrates the last of the identified living masters of Indian miniature paintings, seven of whom are part of this project.

“The genesis of this exhibition lies in my PhD on the contemporary situation of Indian miniature paintings. During this I realised that the miniature artists who follow the school are just a handful and that their generation is fading fast; three of them died while I was carrying out my research,” she says. The first of the works was commissioned three years ago.

The artworks incorporate rich details of Indian textiles and spices from the time period that Bhalla has chosen. This was a time when an Indo-European vocabulary was being developed in the creative field in India because of the European influences. The companies were coming to India to trade in textiles and spices. The textiles that were being made in the area of Coromandel and Machilipatnam were mainly kalamkari. The companies would come and commission their own designs. “These artists adopted their own technique, used Indian dyes and indigenous basics of design methods but incorporated European design vocabulary too to meet the taste of the consumers of these works back in Europe,” says Seema.

Narration of those times, these works featured ordinary people on the road, nautch girls, architecture and, later, historical figures too.

Of the 25 works that have been commissioned under the project, three are in Sikh company style, some in Delhi and some in Tanjore company style. Seema says the works are her attempt to recontextualise history. The borders in these words are 17th and 18th century textiles that were being made in Coromondel then, now housed at the museums in London, France and the Netherlands. For this research based project, British Museum, London, Musee des Arts Decoratifs, Paris, Musee la Compagnie des Indes-Ville de Lorient and  Victoria & Albert Museum, London are the collateral partners who have given access to the images of relevant material from their collection. 

Textiles designs from the collections of these museums have been painted in 24-karat gold. Seema says she has used gold to illustrate India’s image of the ‘Golden Bird’. A 2x2-inch gold medallion has been etched into each painting. The sizes of the paintings vary and  measure  between 6” x7” to 9”x12” in size. For Seema, who has spent the last three years in correlating various historical aspects on the basis of her academic research in these complex works, the show will be her tribute to the masters of miniature.

The show will be inaugurated by the British High Commissioner and diplomats of other embassies. It opens at Bikaner House in New Delhi on November 20 and goes on till November 26.