FASHIONING INDIA’S NATIONAL ART: BARODA’S ROYAL COLLECTION, ART INSTITUTIONS AND CRAFTS AT COLONIAL EXHIBITIONS (1875-1924) PRIYA M. JARADI (MA, HISTORY OF INDIAN ART AND ARCHAEOLOGY, SCHOOL OF ORIENTAL AND AFRICAN STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON) A THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY SOUTH ASIAN STUDIES PROGRAMME NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE 2011 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This lengthy project has seen the engagement of several teachers, scholars, friends and colleagues throughout its making. While it is not possible to thank them all, I will mention those who have been most closely associated with my research. My profound sense of gratitude is due to Dr. Gyanesh Kudaisya for showing interest in my proposal and guiding my application process at NUS. His guidance towards refining my area of research and archival work has been immensely valuable. Without the NUS Scholarship I would not be able to undertake this study; I thank the University for facilitating the funds to support my candidature. Dr. Andrea Pinkney has been more than a supervisor; she has occupied a special place as a friend and confidante. I especially appreciate the many ways in which she instilled confidence and cheer in arduous times. Thank you for grooming this project with carefully devised reading lists, discussions, fieldwork strategies and advice on writing and presentation. Dr. Maurizio Peleggi’s trenchant comments always compelled me to scale new heights. Dr. Rick Asher’s detailed and careful feedback opened new directions for argument. I thank all three mentors for their close and combined involvement in the making of this dissertation. I appreciate Dr. Rahul Mukherji’s advice at various stages of my research. Thank you to Dr. Yong Mun Cheong, Dr. Indivar Kamtekar, Dr. Ishtiyaq Ahmed and Dr. Rajesh Rai for your thoughtful comments on the proposed research topic. Thank you to Sham, Jannah and Hamidah for managing my candidature at NUS. Without your impeccable standards in administering every detail underlying this project, the research may not have come to a smooth completion. I take this opportunity to express my thanks to the NUS library staff, especially Kannagi Rajamanickam and Vimala Nambiar. I am deeply indebted to my colleague and friend, Hussain Ahmad Khan for his close engagement with the dissertation. Thank you for your constant motivation and incisive feedback. My appreciation is due to my dear friend Mokshika Gaur for being an effective motivator and advisor. Thank you to all my colleagues at the South Asian Studies Programme: Sujoy Dutta, Taberez Neyazi, Shabbir Hussain Mustafa, Irfan Waheed Usmani, Sojin Shin, Yaqian Wong, Hema Kiruppalini, Farzana Fahmida Kazi, Joefe Santarita and Ngawang Drakpa. This project enjoyed support from the following colleagues and friends in the art and academic fields: Pheroza Godrej, Saryu Doshi, late Ranjit Sinh Gaekwad, Khorshed and Kekoo Gandhy, Rahaab Allana, Jai Bhandarkar, Punita Thakkar, Sam N.J. Maneckshaw, and Savithri Preetha Nair. I especially thank Dr. Giles Tillotson for his invaluable advice on the chosen topic. I express my gratitude to R.D. Parmar, ex-director of the Baroda Museum for his able guidance during my field research. Thank you to the staff of the Baroda Museum and Library. Thanks are due to the staff and management of the Gujarat State Archives, Southern Circle, Baroda, for their assistance with my archival research. I especially recognize ii Chhaganbhai Solanki’s time and effort to guide my data-collection. Thank you to Ramsinghbhai and Manubhai for making the files available from the store. I deeply appreciate the support and infrastructure offered by my extended family in Baroda: Girish and Neelam Thaker, Brijesh and Hema Upadhyay. Thank you for your enthusiasm towards my field-research. My profound sense of appreciation is due to Devika Shankar for her prompt and effective assistance with data-collection at the National Archives, New Delhi. I dedicate a very special acknowledgement to architect, Sharat Sunder Rajeev and historian Dr. R.P. Raja for sharing their research with me. I fondly remember Late Guru Shri Mani for instilling a profound love for the arts in me. Thank you to my dear friends, Bindi and Wrik for always being there. Without the unstinting support from my parents, brother and sister, I might not have completed this project. Special thanks are due to my helper, Mallika, for being an efficient house-manager and nanny. My final thanks are reserved for Manish. Thank you for believing in me and encouraging me to undertake this project. You have indeed been a wonderful father and patient partner over these four busy years. My apologies to Kabir and Tansen for missing out on several play dates. iii CONTENTS Acknowledgements ii Summary ix List of Illustrations x Abbreviations xiv Note on Usage of Spellings and Citations xv INTRODUCTION I. Introduction, Research Statement and 1 Research Questions II. Literature Review 4 III. Theoretical Framework and Methodology 27 IV. Organization of Chapters 31 CHAPTER 1: MODERNIZATION OF PRIVATE CONSUMPTION AND STATE ADMINISTRATION: SAYAJIRAO’S IMAGINATION OF AN INDIGENOUS MODERNITY 1.1. Introduction and Methodology 36 1.2 The Backdrop: Baroda, Sayajirao and 39 his Inner Coterie 1.3 Baroda’s Exotic Treasures: Nucleus of 45 Sayajirao’s Private Collecting Practice 1.3.1 Jewels 47 1.3.2 Paraphernalia for Ceremonial Pageants 48 1.3.3 Pearl Carpet 50 1.4 Westernization of Private Consumption: 52 Sayajirao as a Modern Elite 1.4.1 Patronage of Euro-Modern Scientific 63 Institutions: Baroda as a Modern Princely State 1.5.1. T. Madhavarao’s Foundational 63 Contributions 1.5.2. Sayajirao’s Contributions to 64 Administration 1.5.3. Sayajirao’s Contributions to Education 68 iv 1.5.4. Sayajirao’s Contributions to 71 Indigenous Crafts and Industry 1.5.5. Sayajirao’s Contributions to Amenities 74 and Infrastructure 1.6. Indigenization of Euro-Modern 77 Practices: Sayajirao’s Project of Nationalism 1.6.1 Scientific know-how-mechanization- 79 industry 1.6.2 Finance and Wealth-accumulation 80 1.6.3 Indigenous Practices and Institutions 82 1.6.4 Case Study of the of 83 Visnagar 1.7. Conclusion 84 CHAPTER 2: GROOMING CONSUMPTION INTO COLLECTING: SAYAJIRAO’S ARTICULATION OF A NATIONAL HIGH ART 2.1. Introduction and Methodology 87 2.2 Academic Portraiture 90 2.2.1 European Portraitists 92 Case Study I: Valentine Cameron Prinsep 97 Case Study II: Charles Giron 98 2.2.2 Early Native Portraitists 102 Case Study I: Portrait of Pilajirao 103 Gaekwad Case Study II: Portrait of Sayajirao 104 Gaekwad II 2.2.3 Self-Taught Native Oil Portraitists 107 Case Study I: Tiroovengada Naidu 110 Case Study II: Raja Ravi Varma 112 2.2.4 Art School-Trained Native Portraitists 128 Case Study I: Samuel Fyzee Rahamin 130 2.3. Salon Sculpture 132 2.3.1 European Sculptors 133 Case Study I: Augusto Felici 133 Case Study II: Derwent Wood 137 2.3.2 Art School-Trained Native Sculptors 138 Case Study I: Ganpatrao Kashinath Mhatre 139 Case Study II: Fanindranath Bose 140 v 2.3. Conclusion 142 CHAPTER. 3. INDIGENIZING THE TOPOS OF MECHANIZATION: SAYAJIRAO’S PROMOTION OF BARODA CRAFTS AND INDIAN DESIGN 3.1. Introduction and Methodology 146 3.2. Verdict of the Great Exhibition of 149 1851: An Essentialist Locus for Indian Nationalism. 3.3. Ivory work, Mica Painting and 152 Baroda Pottery: Modernization within Private Consumption & State-sponsored Projects Case Study I: Neelakandan Asari & 153 Trichinopoly Mica Painter Case Study II: Local Baroda Pottery 156 3.4 Kalābhavan: Indigenization of Colonial 160 Technics Case Study I: Baroda-based Applicants for 161 “Technical Education” Case Study II: Baroda-based Applicants 163 for Technical Education Case Study III: Inclusion of Kalābhavan 170 disciplines at VJTI Case Study IV: Integration of 171 Kalābhavan–Nazarpaga with VJTI Examinations. 3.4. Naẓar Paga, State Furniture Works: In 174 the Topos of Mechanization and Markets Case Study I: Nazarpaga Workshop 176 Case-Study II: State Furniture Works 178 3.5. Tea Service & Baroda Screen: 181 Internationalizing Indian Design Case-Study I: Commission of 184 Walking Stick for Messrs. P.Orr & Sons, Madras Case-Study II: Commission of 186 Howḍ h for Messrs Deschamp & vi Co. Bombay Case-Study III: Commission of 187 Tea Service for Messrs. P.Orr & Sons, Madras Case Study IV: Baroda Screen 190 Case Study V: Baroda Balcony 191 3.6. Conclusion 196 CHAPTER 4: CONSOLIDATING IDEAS, ARTS AND CRAFTS: REALIZATION OF SAYAJIRAO’S INDIGENOUS MODERNITY WITHIN A BARODA CATEGORY 4.1 Introduction and Methodology 200 4.2 Baroda’s Autonomous Investigative 204 Modality: Identification and Promotion of Local Crafts Case-Study: Baroda Embroidery and Lace- 206 Work 4.3 Towards a Baroda Category and 208 Museum: Shift to Provincialism in the Domain of Exhibitions 4.4 Towards an Independent Baroda Court: 214 Examination of Exhibition Loans and Catalogues Case-Study I: Colonial and Indian 214 Exhibition, 1886 Case-Study II: Chicago World’s Fair, 1893 219 Case-Study 3: Delhi Durbār Exhibition, 222 1902-03 4.5 Integration of “Traditional, Industrial, 235 Royal” Domains: A Return to Sayajirao’s vii Imagination of Indigenous Modernity 4.6 Conclusion 251 CONCLUSION 254 Bibliography 265 APPENDICES APPENDIX I - Biographies of Artists and 276 Craftsmen engaged with Sayajirao’s Collecting Practice APPENDIX II - List of Award-winning 280 Items Presented by Kalābhavan-NaẒarpaga at Colonial Exhibitions 282 APPENDIX III – Baroda Genres and Craftsmen as documented in George Watt’s Catalogue of the Delhi Durbār Exhibition of 1902-03 APPENDIX IV- Baroda Craft Genres 286 documented in George Birdwood’s Industrial Arts of India (1880) GLOSSARY 288 ILLUSTRATIONS 292 viii SUMMARY In this dissertation I argue that native collectors enjoyed agency in the making and representation of indigenous art genres and indigenized European genres in the global domain of colonial exhibitions, which ultimately led to value-ascription in favour of what was fast becoming India’s national art.