Set of Bird Mica Paintings

Trichinopoly (South India)

Pigments on Mica

Painting on mica (talc) was a novelty that greatly attracted the British in India and was made specifically for Europeans. Mica had long been used by Indian artists for preserving tracings of their family paintings. It was practised at Murshidabad, Patna and Benares in Eastern India and at Trichinopoly in South India. In South India mica was mined at Cuddapah and painted by artists at Trichinopoly. By the second half of the nineteenth century mica paintings depicting gods, rulers, festival scenes, castes, occupations, birds, flowers and butterflies were being produced there in their hundreds for sale to the British. South Indian mica painting is easily distinguished from that in Eastern India by its colour range, with arsenic green, lemon yellow and orange-brown predominating. Those in Eastern India favoured a blue.

This set of four mica paintings, each depicting a different bird, features original handwritten captions identifying each species. The birds showcased include the Black Headed Shrike, Turtle Dove, Orange Breasted Green Pigeon, and Solitary Snipe.

Painting Sizes (cms): 14(H) x 10.5(W) each
Painting Sizes (inches): 5.5(H) x 4.25(W) each

Framed Sizes (cms): 32.5(H) x 25.5(W) each
Framed Sizes (inches): 13(H) x 10(W) each