{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O83226"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O83226/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AH2316/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AH2316/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AH2316","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017JX2872","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O83226/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O83226","accessionNumber":"IS.74-1888","objectType":"Model","titles":[{"title":"A Traveller being strangled by Thugs","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"","physicalDescription":"Painted plaster model depicting the murder of a traveller (shown being forced to the ground) by a group of Thugs. One of the three Thugs is employing their usual technique of strangulation with a handkerchief.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"Plaster, moulded and painted","categories":[{"text":"Figures & Decorative ceramics","id":"THES48954"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"SSEA","id":"THES48598"},"images":["2006AH2316","2017JX2872"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"008","id":"THES372733"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Model","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"India","id":"x29790"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"mid 19th century","earliest":"1825-01-01","latest":"1875-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by Mrs. Mc. Leod, Andrews House, Tonbridge","dimensions":[],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Placed in the Metal Room in the Museum. 19 October, 1888.\r\n\r\nGiven by Mrs. Mc. Leod, Andrews House, Tonbridge. 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":"Thugs, from Hindi 'thag', a more generic term for criminal, were gangs of robbers and murderers who waylaid travellers, murdering and robbing them. They occurred all over India, but were particularly associated with Central India, especially the town of Jabalpur, today in Madhya Pradesh. Whether all the gangs designated as Thugs were members of a sect devoted to Kali, or merely thieves, is not clear. The term became a household word in England during the 1830s, when Sir (then Captain) William Sleeman undertook to supress 'Thuggee'. Colonel Meadows Taylor's popular novel 'Confessions of a Thug' (1839) also helped make the practice familiar in Britain. Models, paintings and posed photographs showing thugs and their activities were made for British patrons and museums during the 19th century.","briefDescription":"traveller being strangled by Thugs; Models, plaster, painted","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["IS.74-1888"],"accessionNumberNum":"74","accessionNumberPrefix":"IS","accessionYear":1888,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-29","recordCreationDate":"2003-08-06","availableToBook":true}}