{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O126443"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O126443/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2011EV9534/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2011EV9534/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2011EV9534","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O126443/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O126443","accessionNumber":"IS.25-1898","objectType":"Button","titles":[{"title":"One of twenty-six ivory buttons painted with butterflies.","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"This is one of a set of buttons painted with a depiction of a butterfly.  Such paintings are a legacy of the traditional skill of Indian court artists at working in miniature.  The naturalistic subject of the paintings on this button is unusual; Delhi miniatures of this type are typically painted with Indian monuments and portraits of Mughal emperors.  Such miniatures could be acquired separately, or mounted into boxes or pieces of jewellery.\r\n\r\nWith the decline of Mughal patronage in the 18th century, miniature painters formerly working for the court emigrated to new centres of power or began to produce works specifically for the growing number of Europeans in India.  By the mid 19th century this had grown into a substantial souvenir trade.","physicalDescription":"Ivory button depicting a butterfly, under a glass disc.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"C168"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"ivory","id":"AAT11857"},{"text":"watercolour","id":"x33202"}],"techniques":[{"text":"Painted","id":"x30138"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Watercolour on Ivory, painted","categories":[{"text":"Indian Company Paintings","id":"THES49045"}],"styles":[{"text":"company","id":"AAT18959"}],"collectionCode":{"text":"SSEA","id":"THES48598"},"images":["2011EV9534"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"007","id":"THES406598"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Button","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Delhi","id":"x29851"},"association":{"text":"Made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"c. 1880","earliest":"1880-01-01","latest":"1880-12-31"},"association":{"text":"Made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Presented by W. Chapman Esq","dimensions":[],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Published: M. Archer, 1955.\r\n\r\nPresented by W. Chapman Esq. This acquisition information reflects that found in the Museum records (Asia Department registers and/or Central Inventory) as part of a 2023 provenance research project.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Painting; Watercolour on ivory, Ivory button painted with a butterfly, under a glass disc, Delhi, ca.1880.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Archer, Mildred. <u> Company Paintings Indian Paintings of the British period</u> \r\nVictoria and Albert Museum Indian Series London: Victoria and Albert Museum, Maplin Publishing, 1992 225 p. ISBN 0944142303\r\n"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"Butterfly","id":"x30161"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["IS.25-1898"],"accessionNumberNum":"25","accessionNumberPrefix":"IS","accessionYear":1898,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-16","recordCreationDate":"2006-07-26","availableToBook":true}}