Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00013060Sir Auckland Colvin and Family, Shimla
Also known as: Sir Auckland Colvin and Family, Simla
About the Artwork
Deen Dayal’s large glass plate negatives and view camera required daylight to capture people without a blur, so his large group portraits are usually set before the sitters’ homes in their gardens. The equipment also dictated that scenes be carefully posed, not candid, shots. Sir Auckland Colvin (1838–1908) and his daughters were photographed in 1887, the year he became lieutenant governor of North-Western Provinces, a position his father had once held. The sitters are arranged so they orbit two framed photographs displayed on a table, presumably depictions of Colvin’s deceased wife and son. Thanks to photography, the entire Colvin family was reunited.
Inscriptions
Written in pencil on verso: “3584”; Imprinted in white in negative: “3584”
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: 20 x 26.9 cm (7 7/8 x 10 9/16 in.); Paper: 20 x 26.9 cm (7 7/8 x 10 9/16 in.)
- Type
- Photograph
- Classification
- Photograph
- Department
- Photography
- Credit line
- Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
- Accession no.
- 2016.266.8
More by Raja Deen Dayal in museum collections
Open-access museum record · AT-00013060
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