San Diego Museum of Art - A Comb Drake (Sarkidiornis melanota)

☰ Open Filter >>

A Comb Drake (Sarkidiornis melanota)

Showing 1 of 1

Print this page

Bookmark: https://collection.sdmart.org/objects-1/info/5204

A Comb Drake (Sarkidiornis melanota)

Ram Das (AKA Ramdas), Indian, b. 18th century

Creation date: ca. 1780

Creation place: India

Other Information

Type: Watercolor Painting

Medium and Support: Opaque watercolor on paper

Credit Line: Edwin Binney 3rd Collection

Accession Number: 1990.1359

State/Province: West Bengal

Dimensions: 26 1/4 in. x 18 5/16 in. (66.7 cm x 46.5 cm)

Provenance

Mary Impey, London, England (ca. 1780 - 1855)

Linnaean Society, London, England (1855 - June 10, 1963)

Sotheby's, London, England (June 10, 1963 - June 10, 1963)

Edwin Binney 3rd, San Diego, California (June 10, 1963 - August 27, 1990)

San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, California (August 27, 1990 - )

Label Copy

The majority of Lady Impey's paintings that survive are by Shaikh Zain al Din, but there may be a greater proportion of work by Ram Das and Bhawani Das in the missing paintings. The series of birds and small animals have survived, but the fish, reptiles, and large animals are unknown at present.

In the Company Manner (2009), SDMA Gallery Rotation
These two charming depictions of waterfowl native to the marshy regions of West Bengal were made for Lady Impey with painstaking fidelity to their subjects. The darter is known as a snake bird, because it swims submerged such that only its long snaky neck is visible above water. Here it bulges with the body of the fish it has just swallowed.
With multiple applications of paint in fine brush strokes, Ram Das portrays the comb drake’s gentle expression and the luminous depth of color in the smoothly textured plumage. Such minute attention to texture, color and detail, which is a legacy from Mughal painting traditions, is unseen in the work of European artists who typically used thin applications of watercolor pigment in similar natural history paintings.

Sonya Quintanilla (2014) Quebec
Ram Das
A Comb Drake (Sarkidiornis melanotos)
From the Impey Album
Calcutta, India, ca. 1780
Opaque watercolor on paper. 66.7 x 46.5 cm
Edwin Binney 3rd Collection, 1990.1359

This depiction of a comb drake, native to the marshy regions of West Bengal, was made for Lady Impey with painstaking fidelity to its subject. Using multiple applications of paint in fine brush strokes, Ram Das portrays the comb drake’s gentle expression and the luminous depth of color in the smoothly textured plumage. Such attention to texture, color and detail, which is a legacy from Mughal painting traditions, contrasts to the thin application of pigments that European watercolorists used in depictions of natural history subjects.

While the majority of Lady Impey’s paintings that survive are by Shaikh Zayn al-Din, there may be a greater proportion of work by Ram Das and Bhawani Das among the missing paintings. Though Lady Impey’s interest was scientific, she often preferred her artists to compose with an eye toward striking compositions. Perhaps this is what drew her to use Mughal artists; beautifully rendered paintings of birds abounded during the reign of Emperor Jahangir (1569– p1627) in particular. Many of the paintings commissioned by Lady Impey show as much affinity with these early works as they do with European natural history paintings.

Last Updated: 9/5/2017

Exhibition

This object was included in the following exhibitions:

Myths, Monsters, Maharajas: Introducing the Binney Collection San Diego Museum of Art , 11/23/1991 - 1/26/1992

In the Company Manner: Indian-British Painting ca. 1770-1890 (Binney Rotation) , 3/28/2009 - 9/27/2009

Into India: South Asian Paintings from The San Diego Museum of Art San Diego Museum of Art , 2/28/2012 - 5/27/2012

Bibliography

This object has the following bibliographic references:

Art of the Islamic and Indian Worlds Christie's. London, England, October 7, 2008
Page Number: 284

Dr. Sonya Quintanilla and Patrick Coleman. Visiones de la India Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza. Madrid, 2012
Page Number: 214, 293, Figure Number: cat. 95, p. 215

Dr. Sonya Quintanilla and Patrick Coleman. Visiones de la India (Mexico) Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia. Mexico , 2013
Page Number: 156, Figure Number: cat. 93, p. 164

Submit a question or comment about this object

Showing 1 of 1

Your current search criteria is: Object is "A Comb Drake (Sarkidiornis melanota)".