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Identification and Creation

Object Number
2006.16.4
Title
“Manua”, 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/5294

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: 27/26
    Gobius? Plenianus
    Swani pl. 35, fri, 13'
    Manua
    D5-26, p.18, v. 10, a 27, c 17

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Victoria S. Munroe
Accession Year
2006
Object Number
2006.16.4
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
The fish is painted in the center of the page in profile. It features a blunt, curved head with large eyes and a downward, curving, agape mouth. Its body tapers to a narrow tail. It has two dorsal fins, including a tall, spiny fin at the center of its back. The fish has a small lateral fin and an abdominal fin that both taper near the tail. Its tail is club-shaped. Its body is dark gray with darker gray and brown mottling. Its abdomen is a light gray.

The page has inscriptions in pen and pencil in the lower third of the composition, to the left and right of the fish, and along the bottom of the sheet. One inscription identifies the fish as “Manua”, while another appears to state “Gobius Plenianus”. The fish is most likely from the Gobiidae family, and perhaps represents the Amoya madraspatensis, a ray-finned fish that can be found in the eastern Indian Ocean.

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.

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