{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O16885"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O16885/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2011EU0997/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2011EU0997/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2011EU0997","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O16885/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O16885","accessionNumber":"IS.6-1957","objectType":"Painting","titles":[{"title":"Two dogs in the compound of a Calcutta house","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"The pictures made by Indian artists for the British in India are often known as 'Company' paintings.  This example is one of two pictures from a set made for a Calcutta resident, depicting his house, servants and pets. The distinguished Company artist Shaikh Muhammad Amir, who worked in the Karraya suburb of Calcutta, painted them. From about the 1780s British residents began to move out of the city centre to the pleasant new suburbs of Chowringhee and Garden Reach. Here local artists found plenty of work. Shaikh Muhammad Amir specialised in depicting the houses and domestic staff of British suburbanites. The painting shows the two dogs sitting in the compound of a house. The dog standing on the left is General, a Feathered Saluki. On the right is the bitch, Aiyar, a Smooth Saluki.","physicalDescription":"Two dogs in the compound of a Calcutta house. The background landscape is a meadow and distant trees. The lively composition has embraced an influence of European technique.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Shaikh Muhammad Amir","id":"A2382"},"association":{"text":"painter (artist)","id":"AAT25136"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"paper","id":"x30308"},{"text":"watercolour","id":"x33202"}],"techniques":[{"text":"painted","id":"x30138"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Watercolour on paper","categories":[{"text":"Paintings","id":"THES48917"},{"text":"Indian Company Paintings","id":"THES49045"}],"styles":[{"text":"Company","id":"AAT18959"}],"collectionCode":{"text":"SSEA","id":"THES48598"},"images":["2011EU0997"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"007","id":"THES406576"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Painting","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Calcutta","id":"x32018"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1845","earliest":"1840-01-01","latest":"1849-12-31"},"association":{"text":"painted","id":"x30138"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"29","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"45","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"Gen[eral][and] Aiyar [the names of the two dogs]","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"English","medium":"","method":"","position":"on original cloth-backing","script":"Roman","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"English; Roman; on original cloth-backing"}],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Painting; watercolour, Two dogs in the compound of a Calcutta house, Calcutta, ca. 1845","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, 105 p ISBN 0944142303\r\nAsok Kumar Das. Wonders of Nature. Ustad Mansur at the Mughal Court. The Marg Foundation, Mumbai, 2012, fig VII.3, p. 154.\r\n"},{"reference":{"text":"Arts of Bengal : the heritage of Bangladesh and eastern India : an exhibition organized by the Whitechapel Art Gallery in collaboration with the Victoria and Albert Museum : 9 November-30 December 1979, Whitechapel Art Gallery ..., 12 January-17 February 1980, Manchester City Art Gallery ... . [London]: Whitechapel Art Gallery, [1979] Number: 085488047X (pbk.) :","id":"AUTH339757"},"details":"p.51","free":""}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"dog (animal)","id":"x30186"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"TWO DOGS IN THE COMPOUND OF A CALCUTTA HOUSE\r\nShaikh Muhammad Amir\r\nWatercolour on paper, inscribed in ink\r\nCalcutta (Kolkata),\r\nWest Bengal\r\nc. 1845\r\nIS.6-1957\r\nThis painting, along with the horse and carriage displayed nearby, is part of a larger set, the rest of which is in the British Library.\r\nAn inscription on the old canvas backing of\r\nthe painting suggests that the dog on the left\r\nis called General and the one on the right is Aiyer.","date":{"text":"01/08/2017","earliest":"2017-08-01","latest":"2017-08-01"}}],"partNumbers":["IS.6-1957"],"accessionNumberNum":"6","accessionNumberPrefix":"IS","accessionYear":1957,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-12-05","recordCreationDate":"1999-12-15","availableToBook":true}}