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Indo-British Art, c.1600-1947 - HOA00087I

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  • Department: History of Art
  • Module co-ordinator: Prof. Jason Edwards
  • Credit value: 20 credits
  • Credit level: I
  • Academic year of delivery: 2024-25
    • See module specification for other years: 2023-24

Module summary

Indo-British Art c.1600-1947 explores the history of art practice in British India between the founding of the East India Company in 1600 and the partition of South Asia in 1947.

Module will run

Occurrence Teaching period
A Semester 1 2024-25

Module aims

Indo-British Art, c.1600-1947 examines the history of art practice in British India between the founding of the East India Company in 1600 and the partition of South Asia in 1947. In any one iteration, the course may have different foci, but the course is likely to range broadly across the histories of painting, sculpture, architecture, textiles, and the decorative arts, and may include British depictions of territories key to the East India Company, the British reception, at home and abroad, of Hindu, Islamic, and Sikh art from the region, as well as the depiction and reception of the British and their own visual and material cultures, amongst Hindu, Muslim, and Sikh artists and artisans. The module will be image-centred and intensive, with students required to select and present on an image of their choice in every session.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should have acquired:

  • A detailed sense of a significant number of images and objects from the period between 1660 and 1947

  • A broad sense of the history of Indo-British art from 1660 to 1947

  • A critical sense of the historiography on the topic

Assessment

Task Length % of module mark
Essay/coursework
Intermediate Assignment		 N/A 100

Special assessment rules

None

Reassessment

Task Length % of module mark
Essay/coursework
Intermediate Assignment		 N/A 100

Module feedback

You will receive feedback on assessed work within the timeframes set out by the University - please check the Guide to Assessment, Standards, Marking and Feedback for more information.

The purpose of feedback is to help you to improve your future work. If you do not understand your feedback or want to talk about your ideas further, you are warmly encouraged to meet your Supervisor during their Office Hours.

Indicative reading

  • Archer, Mildred, Christopher Rowell, and Robert Skelton. Treasures from India: The Clive Collection at Powis Castle. London: Herbert, 1987.
  • Bance, Peter. The Duleep Singhs: The Photography Album of Queen Victoria’s Maharajah. Stroud: Sutton, 2004.
  • Bryant, Julius, and Susan Weber, eds. John Lockwood Kipling: Arts & Crafts in the Punjab and London. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2017.
  • Chawla, Rupika. Raja Ravi Varma: Painter of Colonial India. Ahmedabad: Mapin, 2010.
  • Coomaraswamy, Ananda K. Art and Swadeshi. New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal, 1994.
  • Dalrymple, William, ed. Forgotten Masters: Indian Painting for the East India Company. London: The Wallace Collection, 2019.
  • Dehejia, Vidya, Dipti Khera, Yuthika Sharma, and Wynyard Wilkinson. Delight in Design: Indian Silver for the Raj. Ahmedabad: Mapin, 2008.
  • Finn, Margot, and Kate Smith, eds. The East India Company at Home, 1757-1857. London: University College London, 2018.
  • Fotheringham, Avalon. The Indian Textile Sourcebook. London: Thames and Hudson, 2019.
  • Macgregor, Arthur. Company Curiosities: Nature, Culture, and the East India Company, 1600-1874. London: Reaktion Books, 2018.
  • Mitter, Partha. Much Maligned Monsters: A History of European Reactions to Indian Art. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977.
  • Ray, Romita. Under the Banyan Tree: Relocating the Picturesque in British India. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2013.


The information on this page is indicative of the module that is currently on offer. The University is constantly exploring ways to enhance and improve its degree programmes and therefore reserves the right to make variations to the content and method of delivery of modules, and to discontinue modules, if such action is reasonably considered to be necessary by the University. Where appropriate, the University will notify and consult with affected students in advance about any changes that are required in line with the University's policy on the Approval of Modifications to Existing Taught Programmes of Study.