TILLY KETTLE (1735-86) in Madras.

When Kettle arrived at Madras, barely four months had passed since Haidar Ali, ruler of Mysore, and his troops had threatened to invade the city. But the Treaty of Madras between Haidar Ali and the British had concluded the first Mysore war, and Kettle was able to set up his studio probably in the residential precinct of Fort St George. Even before leaving England, he had begun a portrait of Lord Pigot, which he brought with him, clearly hoping to find a buyer for his picture of the former Governor. Local British residents, including Peter Mariette, a naval Captain turned merchant, were soon providing Kettle with portrait commissions. These oil paintings, mostly straightforward head-and-shoulders portraits following a similar formula, conformed to the fashionable style of Sir Joshua Reynolds. Kettle usually portrayed his sitters, their serious expressions largely devoid of emotion, against a plain or simple background.

It was probably Kettle’s contact with Muhammad Ali Khan, Nawab of the Carnatic, who ruled from 1763 until his death in 1795 that kept him in Madras for so long. The Nawab had recently moved to Madras from his nearby capital at Arcot into the Chepauk Palace, his grand new mansion overlooking the sea to the south of Fort St George. Here the Nawab entertained lavishly, adopting European manners to cultivate the British with whom he had a long association. He soon became aware of the popular genre of portrait painting and commissioned large oils of himself from Kettle. The first picture included Muhammad Ali’s sons. It was painted as a parting gift from the Nawab to Governor Charles Bourchier, who was to retire from Madras in January 1770. Taken by Bourchier to London, the painting was exhibited at the Society of Artists the following year. The catalogue recorded its title as ‘The Portraits of Mahomed Ali Cawn (Nabob of Arcot, and Subah of the Carnatic, the faithful friend of the English) and of his five sons; whole lengths’. Visitors to the same exhibition would have seen Francis Swain Ward’s landscape paintings depicting monuments in south India.

News of the Nawab’s cordial relationship with the Company in Madras had already reached London before Kettle arrived in mid-1769. In gratitude for the Nawab’s help to the Company, George III and Queen Charlotte had sent him portraits of themselves along with autographed letters. The Nawab subsequently replied: ‘My inability to obtain the Satisfaction of seeing Your Majesty’s Royall Person, which I so much desire, is the Reason that I have Your Majesty’s happy Picture Night and Day before me’. And instead of ‘Attending in Person on Your Majesty to return my grateful Thanks’, the Nawab sent a painting of himself and his children to the King and Queen, which was almost certainly painted by Kettle in 1770.

Kettle’s picture of Muhammad Ali without his sons depicts him in a similar pose to Bouchier’s painting, and wearing identical robes. The picture above all makes a statement, projecting the Nawab’s princely status, wealth, military skills and cultured intellect. Spectators might also have noted the resemblance between the Nawab’s pose and that of a Roman hero. He also appears dignified and dependable. Yet both he and the Company officials in Madras were involved in devious deals of mutual interest. For example, while relying on the British for funds, the Nawab ceded parts of his territory in the Carnatic, especially around Madras, to the Company. Although this picture may have been painted initially for display in the Nawab’s Chepauk Palace, by 1775 it was in London and on show at the Society of Artists the same year. It was purchased later by Lawrence Sulivan’s son, Stephen, and bequeathed to the V&A by a descendent in 1911.

The local people in India, their environment and way of life also captivated many British portrait painters. While still in Madras, Kettle made a series of unusual studies of south Indian women, reflecting his interest in their social role in society. Two oil paintings, a temple scene and dancing girls, were painted probably as a pair or part of a series. Each composition resembles that of a classical frieze.

One scene depicts a group of women arriving for worship at the entrance to a Hindu temple, while the other shows two dancing-girls, devidasis, performing on the terrace of a temple, surrounded by local onlookers. Whether the pictures were commissioned by a patron or painted by Kettle for personal interest is not known. In any event the latter picture, shown at the 1772 Society of Artists' exhibition as 'Dancing Girls (Blacks)', would have appeared highly exotic to an English audience at the time. Another picture by Kettle, depicting a Hindu sati scene in a landscape, represented a new type of Oriental genre that embodied pastoral overtones tinged with elements of Romanticism. The catalogue of the 1776 Society of Artists' exhibition where it was displayed provided an explanatory title: 'The Ceremony of a Gentoo [Hindu] Woman taking leave of her Relations, and distributing her Jewels, prior to her ascending to the Funeral Pile of her deceased Husband'. Instead of portraying the reality of the event that held such fascination for foreigners, Kettle idealized and ennobled the scene. He painted the elegant young widow calmly acknowledging the Brahmins prostrating themselves at her feet, while family members observe sympathetically. This was probably the first time that a painting of a sati scene was put on public display and, since European travellers to India had written extensively about this ancient rite, Kettle's picture would have aroused much interest among viewers.

- EXTRACT FROM THE BOOK :

INDIAN LIFE AND LANDSCAPE BY WESTERN ARTISTSBY PAULINE ROHATGI AND GRAHAM PARLETT, ASSISTED BY SHIRLEY IMRAY AND PHEROZA GODREJ (Published by the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS), formerly the Prince of Wales Museum, Mumbai)


Price: Book: Rs. 2,000 (India) OR US Dollars 50 (Overseas)