The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 13, 2025

Picnic Party at Mr. Peliti's Country House, Mashobra

1887

Raja Deen Dayal

(Indian, 1844–1905)
India
albumen print
Image: 18.9 x 27.7 cm (7 7/16 x 10 7/8 in.); Paper: 18.9 x 27.7 cm (7 7/16 x 10 7/8 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 2016.266.11
Location: Not on view

Description

This scene is from one of many lavish entertainments hosted by local caterer, restaurateur, and hotelier Federico Peliti (Italian, 1844–1914) at his forested country estate outside Shimla. In the photograph, Peliti is on horseback and his wife Judith is on the swing. Swings have a long history as items of leisurely pleasure in Europe and India. Badminton, which originated in England in 1873, was popular in India. Deen Dayal may have been invited to document this gathering because he and Peliti, an amateur photographer, both belonged to the Photographic Society of Bombay.
  • 1887 or 1888
    Studio of Raja Deen Dayal, sold to commissioner (identity unknown)
    1970s–2015
    Walter Clode [1929–2022], Pershore, England, sold or consigned to Prahlad Bubbar Indian and Islamic Art, London, England
    2015–16
    (Prahlad Bubbar Indian and Islamic Art, London, England), sold to The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    December 5, 2016–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Raja Deen Dayal: The King of Indian Photographers. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 23, 2023-February 4, 2024).
  • {{cite web|title=Picnic Party at Mr. Peliti's Country House, Mashobra|url=false|author=Raja Deen Dayal|year=1887|access-date=13 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2016.266.11