{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1070110"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1070110/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2024NU4120/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2024NU4120/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2024NU4120","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2024NU4121","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017JU6488","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O1070110/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1070110","accessionNumber":"P.49-1930","objectType":"Portrait miniature","titles":[{"title":"Portrait miniature of an unknown officer","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"This miniature was painted by Diana Hill (maiden name Dietz, 1760-1844), a British miniature painter who lived and worked in Kolkata between 1786 and 1806. Hill was part of a group of portrait painters who travelled to India in pursuit of more commissions and artistic acclaim, such as John Smart and Ozias Humphry. As a woman artist, Hill’s position was more contested than that of her contemporaries in India. In a telling display of his prejudice, Humphry proclaimed that he would ‘rather have had all the male painters in England landed in Bengal than a single woman.’ Hill nonetheless persisted and built a successful portrait practice amongst the city’s colonial elite. It is likely she painted the portraits of local residents too. ","physicalDescription":"Portrait miniature on ivory of an unknown officer set in a metal frame.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Diana Hill","id":"A9811"},"association":{"text":"artist","id":"AAT25103"},"note":"\r\n Diana Hill (maiden name Dietz) was a British miniature painter who worked in Britain and India during the eighteenth century. Hill was trained by Jeremiah Meyer and regularly exhibited at the RA. Perhaps inspired by her brother-in-law, John Hill, and his connections with the East India Company, and as a recent a widow with two young children, Hill left to India in 1786 to be a portrait painter. Records authorizing her passage remain at the British Library. Several archival records illuminate her time in India, including Ozias Humphry declaring that he ‘rather have had all the male painters in England in Bengal than a single woman.’ She gave up miniature painting after her second marriage in 1788."}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"ivory","id":"AAT11857"},{"text":"watercolour","id":"AAT15045"}],"techniques":[{"text":"watercolour painting","id":"THES250889"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Watercolour on ivory ","categories":[{"text":"Paintings","id":"THES48917"},{"text":"Portraits","id":"THES48906"},{"text":"Miniatures","id":"THES269968"},{"text":"Colonialism and Empire","id":"THES253004"},{"text":"Woman Artist","id":"THES387590"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"PDP","id":"THES48595"},"images":["2024NU4120","2024NU4121","2017JU6488"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"LVLF","id":"THES49656"},"free":"","case":"RMC","shelf":"3","box":"F"}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"miniatures (paintings)","id":"AAT33936"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"India","id":"x29790"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":"Diana Hill lived and worked in Kolkata for part of her career."},{"place":{"text":"Britain","id":"x32019"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""},{"place":{"text":"Kolkata","id":"x32018"},"association":{"text":"painted","id":"AAT54216"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1780-1789","earliest":"1775-01-01","latest":"1789-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Gift of Miss B.C. Lowndes through The Art Fund","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"64","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"50","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"Dimensions taken from <i>Summary Catalogue of Miniatures in the Victoria and Albert Museum</i>, Emmett Microform, 1981.","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"Portrait miniatures were frequently exchanged between loved ones and family in eighteenth-century Britain as tokens of affection and remembrance. In colonial India, where many officers were separated from loved ones for long periods of time, there was a high demand for portraits that could be sent to friends and family back home; or that could document and preserve one’s own likeness. Hill painted the portraits of many central figures of the British community in Kolkata. It is likely that she painted portraits for local residents too. ","briefDescription":"Portrait Miniature, Unknown Officer, by Diana Hill, watercolour on ivory, ca. 1780-1789.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"<i>Summary Catalogue of Miniatures in the Victoria and Albert Museum</i>, Emmett Microform, 1981"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"portrait","id":"AAT33936"},{"text":"officer","id":"AAT236210"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["P.49-1930"],"accessionNumberNum":"49","accessionNumberPrefix":"P","accessionYear":1930,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-07-24","recordCreationDate":"2009-06-30","availableToBook":false}}