Sahoucar, an Indian money lender
Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India, 1869
RCMS 352/1

A fine example of a nineteenth-century painting on a very thin sheet of mica. Micas were the postcards of their day and produced in standard sets for the colonial tourist market. Many were sold to employees of the East India Company and are often referred to as ‘Company paintings’. This set comprises thirty-six portraits including a Hookah-burdar carrying his master’s hooka (pipe for smoking) and a Dhobee’s wife carrying a bundle of washing above her head. The artist and donor are unknown but the micas were acquired in October 1935.