Company Drawings of Natural History: the evolution of techniques and materials
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Edinburgh
Department Name: College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sci
Abstract
The achievements of the scientists who commissioned Company Drawings are well researched, but who were their artists? How did they make the natural history drawings? Generally understood as hybrid works, on Western paper with local materials, this research project will comprehensively explore interactions between all sides in the creative process, considering exchange of artistic ideas from one side to the other, the influence of scientific requirements and trade in materials. It will be a first interdisciplinary investigation into the contribution made by Indian artists to scientific discovery, documentation and dissemination in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Company Drawings of natural history record the first time many species were introduced to science; the botanical illustrations are sometimes the only record of the naming of species and therefore of continuing scientific value. Commissioned locally, usually by British East India Company employees in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the collections are known by the name of their commissioner (the 'Roxburgh Icones') or the recipient (the 'Wellesley Collection'), rarely recording he artist's names.
This dissertation will investigate South Asian drawings commissioned by Francis Buchanan-Hamilton, dating between 1790 to 1820. The drawings represent botanical and zoological subjects, produced in the field or workshop environments in Kolkata. To disseminate information, some exist in triplicate, partially or fully coloured, all handmade copies, ideal for discovering a variety of artistic practice.
Highly innovative and original, this project will combine research from the Histories of Art and Science with Technical Art History to comprehensively understand the way Indian artists worked in the colonies, spotlighting their experience during this important period of Anglo Indian exchange in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The interdisciplinary approach will provide an unprecedented insight into a time of global scientific advances and achievements.
A variety of research approaches will be taken. Literature and archival research in the UK and India will combine with evidence from scientific examination of the works. Traditional Indian art techniques will also be studied, including practical experience, and together these methods will allow for the reconstruction of key works as well as the final dissertation.
This research will address the current lack of information about the relationship between the painting and drawing techniques and the provenance of the material which will inform future conservation and exhibiting protocols, helping preserve cultural heritage artefacts for the future. It will also improve understanding of how the works and related copies were made, establishing inter-relationships between collections, adding information and value to archives which will enable future scholarship. It will build a complete picture of the role of the Indian artists, establishing how their knowledge interplayed with the demands of science, the influence of the commissioners, and trade in artist's materials, allowing reassessment of the position these works hold both in the History of Science and with Indian Art History. This will have academic impact for History and Cultural Studies as well as the Histories of Art and Science and Technical Art History.
Company Drawings of natural history record the first time many species were introduced to science; the botanical illustrations are sometimes the only record of the naming of species and therefore of continuing scientific value. Commissioned locally, usually by British East India Company employees in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the collections are known by the name of their commissioner (the 'Roxburgh Icones') or the recipient (the 'Wellesley Collection'), rarely recording he artist's names.
This dissertation will investigate South Asian drawings commissioned by Francis Buchanan-Hamilton, dating between 1790 to 1820. The drawings represent botanical and zoological subjects, produced in the field or workshop environments in Kolkata. To disseminate information, some exist in triplicate, partially or fully coloured, all handmade copies, ideal for discovering a variety of artistic practice.
Highly innovative and original, this project will combine research from the Histories of Art and Science with Technical Art History to comprehensively understand the way Indian artists worked in the colonies, spotlighting their experience during this important period of Anglo Indian exchange in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The interdisciplinary approach will provide an unprecedented insight into a time of global scientific advances and achievements.
A variety of research approaches will be taken. Literature and archival research in the UK and India will combine with evidence from scientific examination of the works. Traditional Indian art techniques will also be studied, including practical experience, and together these methods will allow for the reconstruction of key works as well as the final dissertation.
This research will address the current lack of information about the relationship between the painting and drawing techniques and the provenance of the material which will inform future conservation and exhibiting protocols, helping preserve cultural heritage artefacts for the future. It will also improve understanding of how the works and related copies were made, establishing inter-relationships between collections, adding information and value to archives which will enable future scholarship. It will build a complete picture of the role of the Indian artists, establishing how their knowledge interplayed with the demands of science, the influence of the commissioners, and trade in artist's materials, allowing reassessment of the position these works hold both in the History of Science and with Indian Art History. This will have academic impact for History and Cultural Studies as well as the Histories of Art and Science and Technical Art History.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Claire Banks (Student) |