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Foster 28
- Record Id:
- 032-003264599
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 032-003264599
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100028181445.0x000418
- LARK:
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Foster 28
- Title:
-
Tipu Sultan, ruler of Mysore (1782-99). A half-length portrait of Tipu, seated and looking to the left.
- Scope & Content:
-
Tipu Sultan, ruler of Mysore (1782-99), 1792
Formerly attributed to F. Cherry.
Oil on canvas.
10.5 by 9 ins (26.5 by 23 cms)
A half-length portrait of Tipu, seated and looking to the left. He is dressed in a tight-fitting greenish garment with a twisted sash. He wears a green turban; a pearl necklace hangs down almost to the waist, and a jewelled sword-belt passes over the right shoulder supporting a gold-hilted sword. Behind is a patterned cushion and to the left a fluted pillar. On the back is a note dated 1 November 1854 and signed by Prince Ghulam Muhammad, a son of Tipu who survived until 1877: ‘This portrait of Tippoo Sultan was painted by Mr. Cherry, Lord Cornwallis’s Persian Secretary, who was afterwards assassinated, at Benares, by Vezeer Alie, and was by Mr. Cherry himself presented to the Begum, Mother of the Sultan, during his Mission to Seringapatam in 1792. Ghulam Mohumed.’ George Frederick Cherry (1761-99) was in the Bengal Civil Service 1778-99. He was Persian Secretary to Lord Cornwallis and accompanied him to Seringapatam in 1792. He appears in the various paintings of ‘The Reception of the Sons of Tipu’ by Devis and Home.
Probably presented to the East India Company by Prince Ghulam Muhammad, 1854
It is in fact impossible that this painting with its subject in strict profile totally in the Indian mannercould be by a European, and Prince Ghulam Muhammad must be mistaken. If Cherry in fact owned it and presented it in 1792 to the Begum in Seringapatam, then the portrait must be the original on which are based the many Indian miniatures using the same iconography. It is presumably by a Madras artist who had trained in using oils.
According to Foster (1924) an engraving by Benjamin Eyles bears an inscription recording that the original painting by Cherry was presented to Tipu’s mother by Lord Cornwallis. This engraving, however, has not been traced. A duplicate painting was presented by Lieut-Colonel Doveton to the Marquess Wellesley and remained in the collection of the Duke of Wellington until 1957 when he presented it to the Government of India. It is now in the Tipu Sultan Museum at the Summer Palace, Seringapatam. For the inscription on the back of this painting, see M. Archer (1979), 425.
Engravings: A. Beatson, ‘A View of the origin and conduct of the war with Tippoo Sultaun’ (London, 1800), frontispiece; mezzotint by S.W. Reynolds’, European magazine’ (London, 1880), 420; J. Hunter ‘Picturesque scenery in the’ ‘Kingdom of Mysore’ (London, 1805), frontispiece; Maistre de la Tour (ed. Prince Ghulam Muhammad) ‘History of Hyder Shah and Tippoo Sultan’ (London, 1855). Reproduced: M. Archer, ‘Tippoo's tiger’ (London, 1959), fig.1
- Collection Area:
- Visual Arts
- Project / Collection:
- India Office Oil Paintings
- Hierarchy Tree:
- [{ "id" : "032-003264599", "parent" : "#", "text" : "Foster 28: Tipu Sultan, ruler of Mysore (1782-99). A half-length portrait of Tipu, seated and looking to the left." , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} }]
- Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-003264599
- Is part of:
- not applicable
- Hierarchy:
- 032-003264599
- Container:
- not applicable
- Record Type (Level):
- Fonds
- Extent:
- 1 Item
- Digitised Content:
- Languages:
- Not applicable
- Scripts:
- Not applicable
- Styles:
- South India/Madras style
South Indian style - Start Date:
- 1792
- End Date:
- 1792
- Date Range:
- 1792
- Era:
- CE
- Access:
- Restrictions to access apply please consult British Library staff
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- User Conditions:
- Appointment required to view these records. Please consult Asian and African Studies Print Room staff.
- Physical Characteristics:
-
Medium: oil paint; canvas
- Former Internal References:
- F28
- Finding Aids:
- Mildred Archer, The India Office collection of paintings and sculpture (London, 1986), 21-22
- Exhibitions:
- The Duke of Wellington, National Portrait Gallery, London, 12 March 2015 - 21 June 2015
- Material Type:
- Prints, Drawings and Paintings
- Legal Status:
- Not Public Record(s)
- Notes:
- Exhibited: The Duke of Wellington, National Portrait Gallery, London, 12 March 2015 - 21 June 2015
- Names:
- Sulṭān Fātiḥ ‘Alī Ṣāḥib Tīpū, Sulṭān of Mysore, 1750-1799,
see also http://isni.org/isni/0000000087936565 - Subjects:
- Portraits