Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00013057His Eminence Commander in Chief and Party, Shimla
Also known as: His Eminence Commander in Chief and Party, Simla
About the Artwork
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.
Inscriptions
Stamped in black ink on verso: “1.H” Imprinted in white on the negative on recto: “3581”
Provenance
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
Exhibition history
Raja Deen Dayal: The King of Indian Photographers. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 23, 2023-February 4, 2024).
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Raja Deen Dayal (Indian, 1844–1905)
- Date
- 1887
- Medium
- albumen print
- Dimensions
- 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.)
- Type
- Photograph
- Classification
- Photograph
- Department
- Photography
- Credit line
- Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
- Accession no.
- 2016.266.4
More by Raja Deen Dayal in museum collections
Open-access museum record · AT-00013057
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