Wilson Studio
[Maharaja Natwarsinhji Fatesinhji and Maharani Kusum Kunwarba of Chhota Udepur]

[Maharaja Natwarsinhji Fatesinhji and Maharani Kusum Kunwarba of Chhota Udepur]
[Maharaja Natwarsinhji Fatesinhji and Maharani Kusum Kunwarba of Chhota Udepur]
[Maharaja Natwarsinhji Fatesinhji and Maharani Kusum Kunwarba of Chhota Udepur]
CultureIndian
Titles
  • [Maharaja Natwarsinhji Fatesinhji and Maharani Kusum Kunwarba of Chhota Udepur]
Datec. 1920s
PlaceBombay, India
MediumGelatin silver print with graphite and ink
DimensionsImage: 14 5/8 × 11 5/8 in. (37.2 × 29.5 cm)
Sheet: 14 5/8 × 11 5/8 in. (37.2 × 29.5 cm)
Mount: 16 × 12 5/8 in. (40.7 × 32 cm)
Credit LineGift of Clinton T. Willour
Object number2004.80
Not on view

Explore Further

Department
Photography
Object Type
Description

Photo studios flourished in India’s urban centers like
Bombay and Calcutta from the 1850s. By the early 20th century even smaller
towns boasted such businesses, and most studios employed painters who could
tint the photographs produced. The Wilson Studio in Bombay printed photographic
images on matte paper as a backdrop, embellished with stencils, airbrushed ink,
and paint. These studio portraits of a maharaja and his second wife show the
couple in a cusped arch and the maharani in a picturesque landscape. Photography
and painting were not seen as rival mediums but as complementary modes of creating
a greater illusion or fantasy.




ProvenanceClinton T. Willour, Houston; given to MFAH, 2004.
Exhibition History"India Through the Camera's Eye," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, February 7–August 12, 2018.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
In pencil lower right below the image: "¦Wilson Studio¦ / Bombay"

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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