British Art and the East India Company: Patronage and Profit

371 Pages·2020·28.047 MB·English

by  Geoff Quilley

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his book examines the role of the East India Company in the
production and development of British art during the eighteenth
and early nineteenth centuries – a period where a new ‘school’
of British art was in its formative stages, including the foundation of
exhibiting societies and the Royal Academy in 1768. This book focuses
on the Company’s patronage, promotion and uses of art, both in Britain
and in India and the Far East, and how the Company and its trade
with the East were represented visually, through maritime imagery,
landscape and genre painting. It also considers how, for artists such as
William Hodges and Arthur William Devis, the East India Company,
and its provision of a wealthy market in British India, provided a prime
opportunity for career advancement. In addition, the book investigates
the confl icted and ambiguous nature of art produced in the service of
a corporation that was the ‘scandal of empire’ for most of its existence, Geoff Quilley
and discusses how the rise of art has been linked to the concomitant rise
of Britain as a self-consciously commercial and maritime nation, whose
prosperity relied upon global expansion, increasing colonialism and the
development of mercantile organisations.
GEOFF QUILLEY is Professor of Art History at the University of
Sussex. He was previously Curator of Fine Art at the National Maritime
Museum, London, and has written and edited numerous books,
including Empire to Nation: Art, History and the Visualization of
Maritime Britain, 1768–1829 (2011).
Cover image: George Chinnery, On Dent’s Veranda, c.1842, oil on
canvas, 43.2 x 63.5 cm, Private Collection.
Cover design: www.stay-creative.co.uk
WORLDS OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY Volume 18
British Art and the East India Company
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WORLDS OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY
ISSN 1752-5667
Series Editor
H. V. Bowen (Swansea University)
Editorial Board
Andrew Cook (British Library)
Rajat Datta (Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi)
P. J. Marshall (King’s College, London)
Nigel Rigby (National Maritime Museum)
This series ofers high-quality studies of the East India Company, drawn from
across a broad chronological, geographical and thematic range. The rich his-
tory of the Company has long been of interest to those who engage in the
study of Britain’s commercial, imperial, maritime and military past, but in
rcent years it has also attracted considerable attention from those who explore
art, cultural and social themes within an historical context. The series will thus
provide a forum for scholars from diferent disciplinary backgrounds, and for
those whose have interests in the history of Britain (London and the regions),
India, China, Indonesia, as well as the seas and oceans.
The editors welcome submissions from both established scholars and those
beginning their career; monographs are particularly encouraged but volumes
of essays will also be considered. All submissions will receive rapid, informed
attention. They should be sent in the frst instance to:
Professor H. V. Bowen, Department of History and Classics, Swansea Univer-
sity, Swansea SA2 8PP
Previously published titles
are listed at the back of this volume
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BRITISH ART AND THE
EAST INDIA COMPANY
Geof Quilley
THE BOYDELL PRESS
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© Geof Quilley 2020
All Rights Reserved. Except as permitted under current legislation no part
of this work may be photocopied, stored in a retrieval system, published,
performed in public, adapted, broadcast, transmitted, recorded or
reproduced in any form or by any means, without the prior permission of
the copyright owner
The right of Geof Quilley to be identifed as the author of this work has
been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988
First published 2020
The Boydell Press, Woodbridge
ISBN 978-1-78744-543-7
The Boydell Press is an imprint of Boydell & Brewer Ltd
PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Sufolk IP12 3DF, UK
and of Boydell & Brewer Inc.
668 Mt Hope Avenue, Rochester, NY 14620–2731, USA
website: www.boydellandbrewer.com
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library
The publisher has no responsibility for the continued existence or accuracy
of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this
book, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will
remain, accurate or appropriate
This publication is printed on acid-free paper
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CONTENTS
List of illustrations vii
Acknowledgements xvii
Chapter 1 Introduction: corporate patronage and Company artists 1
Chapter 2 ‘That extensive Commerce’: the maritime image of the
East India Company 53
Chapter 3 Travels in India: landscape and colonial patronage 93
Chapter 4 Networks of knowledge, power and cultural exchange 157
Chapter 5 The cries of India: colonial power, classifcation, and the
difusion of knowledge 201
Chapter 6 By way of China 243
Chapter 7 Collecting India 273
Chapter 8 Conclusion 315
Select Bibliography 325
Index 341
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ILLUSTRATIONS
Chapter 1
1.1 Spiridione Roma, Britannia receiving the Riches of the East, 1778, oil
on canvas, 228 x 305 cm, British Library © The British Library
Board Foster 245 2
1.2 George Lambert and Samuel Scott, Fort William, Calcutta, c.1731,
oil on canvas, 78.5 x 117 cm, British Library © The British
Library Board Foster 45 4
1.3 John Michael Rysbrack, Britannia receiving the Riches of the East,
chimney-piece for the Directors’ Court Room, East India
House, c.1730, marble, 102.9 x 167.6 cm, London, Foreign and
Commonwealth Ofce © The British Library Board Foster 8 5
1.4 Tilly Kettle, Muhammad Ali Khan, Nawab of Arcot, 1772–5, oil
on paper laid on canvas, 239 x 148 cm, Victoria and Albert
Museum IM.124-1911 © Victoria and Albert Museum, London 7
1.5 Spiridione Roma, ‘Preliminary design for a ceiling painting for
the Revenue Committee Room, East India House, Leadenhall
Street’, c.1777, pencil, ink and wash, 34.5 x 46.5 cm, British
Library © The British Library Board WD 3546 21
1.6 Robert Taylor, Allegory of the City of London: pediment
sculpture for the Mansion House, London, 1744–6. Photo: author 22
1.7 Attributed to George Vertue, The Old East India House, Leadenhall
Street, c.1711, pen and ink and wash, 45.1 x 31.1 cm, British
Library © The British Library Board WD 1341 26
1.8 Samuel Wale, East India House, Leadenhall Street, c.1760, wash
drawing, 7.6 x 15.2 cm, British Library © The British Library
Board WD 2056 28
1.9 John Michael Rysbrack, Charity, 1746, marble, 75 x 122 cm
© Coram in the care of the Foundling Museum 30
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viii Illustrations
1.10 Edward Edwards, engr. John Hall, This Print is humbly addressed to
the British Nation [allegory of the Marine Society], 1774, etching and
engraving, 53.2 x 43 cm, British Museum, Department of Prints
and Drawings, 1850,1214.215 © The Trustees of the British
Museum 35
1.11 Edward Edwards, engr. J. Hall, Hindoostan, 1782: cartouche for
James Rennell’s map of India, Library of Congress, Geography
and Map Division 36
1.12 Francis Hayman, Robert Clive and Mir Jafar after the Battle of Plassey,
1757, c.1760, oil on canvas, 100.3 x 127 cm, National Portrait
Gallery, London © National Portrait Gallery, London 38
1.13 Edward Penny, Lord Clive about to Receive from the Nawab of Bengal
a Sum of Money to be Used for a Charity Known as the Clive Fund,
1771–2, British Library © The British Library Board Foster 91 40
1.14 After John Bacon the Younger, Pediment of the Portico to the East
India House, 1796–9, soft-ground etching, British Library © The
British Library Board P2203 44
Chapter 2
2.1 Thomas Buttersworth, engr. Henri Merke and Joseph Clark, The
China Fleet heavily laden Commanded by Commodore Sir Nathaniel Dance
beating of Adml Linois and his Squadron the 15th of Feby 1804, 1804,
coloured aquatint, 37.8 x 48.2 cm, National Maritime Museum,
Greenwich, London, PX9019 58
2.2 Robert Salmon, The East Indiaman ‘Warley’, 1804, oil on canvas,
91.5 x 144.2 cm, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich,
London, BHC3707 60
2.3 Thomas Luny, The East Indiaman ‘Hindustan’ at Anchor, 1790–2,
oil on canvas, 55.8 x 86.3 cm, National Maritime Museum,
Greenwich, London, Macpherson Collection, BHC3407 62
2.4 Thomas Luny, The East Indiaman ‘Hindustan’ and other Vessels,
1790–2, oil on canvas, 55.8 x 84.0 cm, National Maritime
Museum, Greenwich, London, Caird Fund, BHC3404 63
2.5 Thomas Luny, The East Indiaman ‘Hindustan’ in a Breeze, 1790–2,
oil on canvas, 56.0 x 86.5 cm, National Maritime Museum,
Greenwich, London, Caird Fund, BHC3405 64
2.6 John Cleveley, The East Indiaman ‘Princess Royal’, 1770, oil
on canvas, 75.0 x 111.5 cm, National Maritime Museum,
Greenwich, London, Caird Collection, BHC3564 68
2.7 Francis Holman, The Indiaman ‘Royal George’ in Three Positions in the
Downs, 1779, oil on canvas, 63.5 x 137.2 cm, National Maritime
Museum, Greenwich, London, BHC4171 69
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Illustrations ix
2.8 Dominic Serres, The East Indiaman ‘Pitt’ in Three Positions of Dover,
1786, oil on canvas, 116.8 x 180.3 cm, National Maritime
Museum, Greenwich, London, Caird Collection, BHC3554 70
2.9 J. Ryland (after William Stokoe?), The Capture of the La Venus French
Privateer after a close Engagement with the Union Extra East India-man
… with the Ships Sir Willm Pulteney & Eliza Ann, 1804, coloured
etching and aquatint, 40.1 x 55.7 cm, National Maritime
Museum, Greenwich, London, PAG9024 71
2.10 Robert Dodd, Portrait of an East Indiaman coming to an Anchor at
Spithead, 1797, coloured aquatint, British Library, © The British
Library Board P2460 73
2.11 Robert Dodd, Portrait of an East Indiaman sailing from Madras, 1797,
coloured aquatint, British Library, © The British Library Board
P2350 74
2.12 James Northcote, engr. James Gillray, The Loss of the Halsewell
East Indiaman, 1787, etching and stipple engraving, 51.7 x 63.5
cm, published 4 June 1787 by R. Wilkinson, 58 Cornhill, British
Museum, Department of Prints and Drawings, 1873,0809.356
© The Trustees of the British Museum 78
2.13 Thomas Stothard, engr. Edmund Scott, The Wreck of the
‘Halsewell’, 1786, coloured engraving, 31.6 x 37.0 cm, National
Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, PY0504 86
2.14 Robert Smirke, engr. Francis Jukes, The Halsewell East Indiaman,
1786, etching and aquatint, 44.0 x 55.0 cm, published 17 March
1786, by R. Pollard, 15 Braynes Row, Spa Fields, National
Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, PY8430 87
Chapter 3
3.1 William Hodges, Ruins of Prince Shuja’s Palace at Rajmahal, 1781,
pen and ink and wash on grey paper, 48.5 x 65.7 cm. Charles
Greig 110
3.2 William Hodges, Ruins of Prince Shuja’s Palace at Rajmahal, 1781,
grey wash, pen and black ink on paper, 49.2 x 66.4 cm, Yale
Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection, B1978.43.1773 111
3.3 William Hodges, View of a Mausoleum at Rajmahal, 1781, graphite
on paper, 47.5 x 72.7 cm, Yale Center for British Art, Paul
Mellon Collection, B1978.43.1781 111
3.4 William Hodges, A Camp of a Thousand Men formed by Augustus
Cleveland three miles from Bhagalpur, with his Mansion in the Distance,
1782, oil on canvas 122 x 160 cm, © 2009 Christie’s Images
Limited 113
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