Harvard Art Museums > 2006.16.3: “Putka”, folio from the album Fishes of India Drawings Collections Search Exit Deep Zoom Mode Zoom Out Zoom In Reset Zoom Full Screen Add to Collection Order Image Copy Link Copy Citation Citation"“Putka”, folio from the album Fishes of India (Unknown Artist) , 2006.16.3,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, Apr 27, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/4852. Reuse via IIIF Toggle Deep Zoom Mode Download This object does not yet have a description. Identification and Creation Object Number 2006.16.3 People Unknown Artist Title “Putka”, folio from the album Fishes of India Classification Drawings Work Type drawing Date c. 1810 Places Creation Place: South Asia, India, Bengal Culture Indian Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/4852 Physical Descriptions Medium Watercolor and gouache on Whatman paper; Company School Dimensions 28.58 x 48.26 cm (11 1/4 x 19 in.) Inscriptions and Marks inscription: 11 / Tetradon / Putka / Dq. p.14, vo. Aq, c6 inscription: Language: English Script: 11 Tetradon? Putka Dq. p.14, vo. Aq, c6 Acquisition and Rights Credit Line Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gweneth Knight Memorial Fund and the William M. Prichard Memorial Fund Accession Year 2006 Object Number 2006.16.3 Division Asian and Mediterranean Art Contact am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu Permissions The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request. Descriptions Description Two small puffer fish are facing each other halfway down the page, just right of the center. The fish on the left is shown in profile, with a green body that is darker at the top and then fades to a cream-colored abdomen. The fish on the right is depicted from both a profile and top view. This distinct perspective simultaneously highlights the fish's eyes, the demarcations on its back, and its flared abdomen. The fish is gray with light and dark blue stripes on its back. The lower half of its body is dark gray which fades to a white abdomen. There are inscriptions in pen and pencil in the right third of the composition, behind the fish. These inscriptions are oriented vertically, like the album itself. An inscription identifies the fish as “Putka”. Another inscription states, what appears to be “Tetradon”. This could be referring to the family, Tetradontidae. It is possible that the fish represent the species Arothron reticularis from this family, a reticulated puffer fish that is found on the east coast of India. This work falls into the genre of natural history documentation, an important enterprise undertaken by many European patrons during their time in India. This genre proliferated between the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, and demonstrate the artist's intention of making quick studies from life. Individual paintings were collected to form an album that documented a variety of animals and plants, thus acting, in a way, as a field guide. Company School. Publication History Harvard University Art Museums, Harvard University Art Museums Annual Report 2005-2006 (Cambridge, MA, 2007), p. 16 Exhibition History 32Q: 2590 South and Southeast Asia, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 07/21/2015 - 11/03/2015 Verification Level This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
