The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 20, 2024

His Eminence Commander in Chief and Party, Simla

His Eminence Commander in Chief and Party, Simla

1887
(Indian, 1844–1905)
Image: 19.5 x 27.2 cm (7 11/16 x 10 11/16 in.); Paper: 19.5 x 27.2 cm (7 11/16 x 10 11/16 in.)
Location: not on view

Description

In 1887 Deen Dayal was appointed photographer to the commander in chief of the British Indian Army, Field Marshal Frederick Roberts (1832–1914) (seated, third from left). This casually dressed group of Roberts’s family and friends had just enjoyed a week of formal events, including a “fancy dress” ball celebrating the 50th anniversary of Queen Victoria’s accession to the throne. That party inaugurated a ballroom built onto Roberts’s home. The following day, Roberts was made Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire. The tiger skin attests to British success at big game hunting. Its use as a rug reveals a very different attitude toward this favored pastime among the British than the Indians, for whom it symbolized royal power.
  • 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=His Eminence Commander in Chief and Party, Simla|url=false|author=Raja Deen Dayal|year=1887|access-date=20 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2016.266.4