A Nabob's Progress

A Nabob's Progress

A Nabob‘s Progress: Rowlandson and Combe‘s The Grand Master, A Tale of British Imperial Excess, 1770-1830 by Christina Smylitopoulos Art History and Communication Studies McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada July 2010 A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy © Christina Smylitopoulos, 2010 1 C. For Christopher L. T. Popovich C. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT 4 RÉSUMÉ 5 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 7 LIST OF FIGURES 12 INTRODUCTION 25 I. The Nabob 25 II. Imperial Identities 35 III. The Product 40 IV. The Progress 49 CHAPTER 1 53 ‗Omenous‘ Signs: The Grand Master As Illusionistic Morality Play I. Pictorial Strategies, Moral Objectives 53 and a Noble Exemplar II. The India Commission 61 III. The Fall of Phaeton 69 IV. Pale Riders 78 V. Solar Eclipses 85 VI. Phantasmagorias 90 VII. Conclusion: Presage to a Progress 97 CHAPTER 2 99 ‗Miseries of the First of the Month‘: Drink, Debt, and Idleness I. Embodied Identity 99 II. Drink and Empire 106 III. Debt and Empire 118 IV. Idleness and Empire 129 I. Conclusion: Intersections of Anxiety 142 CHAPTER 3 144 ‗Last Visit from the Doctor‘s Assistant‘: Imperial Illness and the Dying Nabob I. The Metropolitan Gaze 144 II. Colonial/Medical Discourse 157 III. Melancholic Memorials to Imperial Martyrs 174 IV. Conclusion: The End of Qui Hi‘s Progress 194 3 CHAPTER 4 198 What Qui Hi Left Behind: Homosocial Colonialism and the Inappropriateness of Women in India I. Homosocial Colonialism 198 II. ‗Vicious and Immoral Connexions‘ in the ‗Progress 204 of Duplicity‘ III. ‗Female Adventurers‘ 217 IV. Qui Hi‘s Colonial Legacy 230 V. Conclusion: A Shared Lineage 244 CONCLUSION 247 I. Satirist vs. Draughtsman 247 II. Portrait of a Nabob 256 III. Modernity and The Death of the Nabob 260 IV. Qui Hi on the Podium 263 FIGURES 268 WORKS CITED I. Primary Sources 389 II. Secondary Sources 395 4 ABSTRACT The figure of the ‗nabob‘ in British graphic satire of the late eighteenth century symbolized domestic anxieties concerning a foreign, ad hoc empire in India. Characterized through uncontrollable greed, untreatable diseases and uninhibited passions, India had been portrayed in Britain through a rhetoric of excess. Embodied in the nabob, these corruptive forces would travel to the West to infect the metropole. I argue that closer scrutiny of graphic satire reveals that British critics understood the true source of Indian excess to be Britain itself. Methodologically, Thomas Rowlandson‘s images in The Grand Master, or Adventures of Qui Hi? in Hindostan (1816) are considered as both a cohesive unit of nabob representation and as a foundation from which discussions of other nabob imagery can be launched. This approach reveals significant departures in how we view the reception of the imperial project in the metropole, the function of representations of Anglo-Indians, the production method of the ‗illustrated book‘ and the characterization of Rowlandson‘s artistic production. Each chapter represents a step on the nabob‘s progress: In Chapter 1, Lord Moira is revealed as a bellicose representative of an overly ambitious class, bent on the ruin of the metropole through the destruction of India. In Chapter 2, depictions of nabobs engaged in excessive drinking, the results of excessive spending and in displays of excessive idleness are examined, illustrating the criticism of questionable imperial agents. In Chapter 3, the dominant strategies of representing imperial illness in India are examined, revealing the decline of the liminal, self-interested figure who could assume the physical and psychological characteristics of the East. In Chapter 4, the negotiation of British masculine identities, created through 5 Company-state policies and processes and justified through conflict with allegedly Eastern excess, are juxtaposed with the reality and the complexity of Anglo-Indian relationships with women. Through this progress, the nabob is exposed as a modern figure created in order to negotiate British national identity amidst significant imperial anxiety. This dissertation contributes to postcolonial debates on empire by revealing a critical, metropolitan response to the ideological function of satirical representations of Anglo-Indians. RÉSUMÉ La figure du ―nabab‖ dans la caricature britannique de la fin du dix- huitième siècle symbolise des inquiétudes domestiques concernant un empire étranger, ad hoc, en Inde. Caractérisée par une avidité incontrôlable, par des passions débordantes et par des maladies incurables, l‘Inde a été représentée en Angleterre par une rhétorique de l‘excès. Incarnées dans le nabab, ces forces corruptrices voyageraient dans l‘Occident pour infecter la métropole. Je soutiens ainsi qu‘un examen attentif de la caricature révèle que les critiques britanniques ont compris que la vraie source de l‘excès indien fut l‘Angleterre elle-même. Du point de vue méthodologique, les images de Thomas Rowlandson pour The Grand Master, or Adventures of Qui Hi? in Hindostan (1816) sont implémentées comme une unité cohésive de la représentation du nabab et comme un point de départ à partir duquel d‘autres discussions de l‘imagerie du nabab peuvent être lancées de façon rationnelle. Cette approche révèle la perspective divergente dont nous apercevons la réception du projet impérial dans la métropole, la fonction de la représentation des Anglo-Indiens, la méthode de la production du « livre illustré » 6 et la caractérisation de la production artistique de Rowlandson. Chaque chapitre reconstitue une étape dans la progression du nabab : dans le premier chapitre, Lord Moira est montré comme ayant été un représentatif belliqueux d‘une classe excessivement ambitieuse, en route vers la ruine de la métropole à travers la destruction de l‘Inde. Dans le deuxième chapitre, seront examinés des portraits de nababs en train de boire excessivement, des résultats des dépenses exorbitantes et des images de la paresse démesurée, afin de démontrer l‘esprit critique envers des agents impériaux à la fiabilité douteuse. Dans le troisième chapitre, les stratégies dominantes utilisées pour mettre en scène la maladie impériale en Inde seront analysées dans le but de montrer le déclin de la figure liminaire, intéressée qui pourrait assumer les caractéristiques physiques et psychologiques de l‘Orient. Dans le quatrième chapitre, la négociation des identités masculines britanniques, créées par le biais des règlements et procédés de la Compagnie, et justifiées par leur conflit avec le soi-disant excès oriental, sera juxtaposée à la réalité et à la complexité des relations anglo-indiennes avec la femme. À travers ce progrès, le nabab ressort comme une figure moderne qui fut créée pour négocier l‘identité nationale britannique dans un temps marqué par une anxiété impériale importante. Cette thèse contribue aux débats post-coloniaux à propos de l‘empire en révélant une réponse critique, métropolitaine à la fonction idéologique des représentations satiriques des Anglo-Indiens. 7 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I was first confronted with the figure of the nabob in a lecture delivered by Sonia Lochner for an undergraduate summer session at the History in Art department at the University of Victoria. She slipped a single piece of British graphic satire into a discussion of Early Modern Indian portrait painters, sitters and their historical contexts. When I asked about the image (COUNT ROUPEE. - VIDE HYDE PARK, 6 June 1797, Figure 71), she replied that very little was known about the work, but by including the image it was clear to me that she sensed the importance of it even if she could not identify who was being portrayed, by whom or why. Notwithstanding his unsavoury characteristics, the nabob has repeatedly proven to be a magnetic figure, drawing a vast and varied community of interested scholars, funders, and supporters who have shown a willingness to help illuminate his significance. Beginning at UVic, Dr. Carol Gibson-Wood provided advice and encouragement to pursue graduate work at the University of York‘s Centre for Eighteenth Century Studies. There the insights of Dr. Harriet Guest, Dr. John Barrell, Dr. Geoffrey Cubitt, and Dr. Mark Hallett helped shape my understanding of the nabob as a figure created in response to imperial anxiety as well as the need for interdisciplinarity to fully grasp the implications of his representation. Before attending McGill, I spent a critical period at the Getty Foundation under the supervision of Dr. Nancy Micklewright, where I learned the fundamentals of institutional philanthropy and have used the skills in administration, grantmaking, and networking gained at the Getty to great effect ever since. The Art History and Communication Studies department at McGill further equipped me, not only with 8 an important foundation of art historical methodology, but with an extraordinarily supportive faculty and cohort. A special thanks to Dr. Amanda Boetzkes (now at the University of Alberta) who helped me understand the importance of excess as a method by which to engage with art. I am also very grateful to Dr. Elizabeth Elbourne from McGill‘s Department of History for her class on ‗cultural imperialism‘ in the British Empire, an experience that gave me the excuse to look more closely at The Grand Master, or Adventures of Qui Hi? in Hindostan, confirming my suspicions that a fine, critical spirit existed in the work of Thomas Rowlandson. I am grateful to Dr. Angela Vanhaelen who has repeatedly shown her interest in and support of my work and has spent considerable amounts of her time helping me navigate the professional aspects of scholarship. I have benefited so much from the friendship and the collegiality of a truly fine cohort: I thank Dr. Julia Skelly for our Wednesdays (which used to be Thursdays); Sylvie Simonds for her well-timed reminders to remain positive; Justina Spencer, for her energy, her enthusiasm and her humanity. I have also been blessed with the friendship offered by Dr. Christina Ionescu who has repeatedly helped me see a path through some of the murkiest moments of graduate studentship.

View Full Text

Details

  • File Type
    pdf
  • Upload Time
    -
  • Content Languages
    English
  • Upload User
    Anonymous/Not logged-in
  • File Pages
    305 Page
  • File Size
    -

Download

Channel Download Status
Express Download Enable

Copyright

We respect the copyrights and intellectual property rights of all users. All uploaded documents are either original works of the uploader or authorized works of the rightful owners.

  • Not to be reproduced or distributed without explicit permission.
  • Not used for commercial purposes outside of approved use cases.
  • Not used to infringe on the rights of the original creators.
  • If you believe any content infringes your copyright, please contact us immediately.

Support

For help with questions, suggestions, or problems, please contact us