
In Tate Britain
- Artist
- Johan Zoffany 1733–1810
- Medium
- Oil paint on canvas
- Dimensions
- Unconfirmed: 965 × 1346 mm
frame: 1247 × 1635 × 78 mm - Collection
- Tate
- Acquisition
- Bequeathed by Simon Sainsbury 2006, accessioned 2008
- Reference
- T12610
Display caption
Colonel Blair served in the Bengal army in colonial India. He sits in the centre of this painting in a lavish interior setting alongside his wife and daughters. On the right, a young Indian girl holds a cat. Her identity and relationship to the family remains unknown. It is possible she is an ayah (a housemaid), or perhaps Blair’s child. The child is positioned as an outsider welcomed into the group, echoing colonial sentiment in the British Empire. The paintings on the wall intentionally portray Indian customs as both captivating and outside British ideas of civilisation.
Gallery label, April 2023
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