Lord Dufferin and the Supreme Council of Government of India (1887): Art, History and Details

Lord Dufferin and the Supreme Council of Government of India (1887) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Raja Deen Dayal (Indian, 1844–1905).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Each summer, the British government left the heat of Calcutta for Shimla in the foothills of the Himalayas, where this photograph was taken. In 1885, Deen Dayal began spending his summers there to be near the officials, who were both subjects and clients. The viceroy, or British ruler, of India, Frederick Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava (1826–1902), sits at the center of this staged meeting of the Supreme Council. Deen Dayal made images of Lord Dufferin and his wife, herself an amateur photographer, that led to his appointment as photographer to the viceroy, which resulted in access to other members of the British elite.

Object facts

• Title: Lord Dufferin and the Supreme Council of Government of India
• Date: 1887
• Creator attribution: Raja Deen Dayal (Indian, 1844–1905)
• Culture: India
• Type: Photograph
• Technique: albumen print
• Dimensions: Image: 19.4 x 27.3 cm (7 5/8 x 10 3/4 in.); Paper: 19.4 x 27.3 cm (7 5/8 x 10 3/4 in.)
• Collection: PH - Misc. 19th Century
• Department: Photography
• Accession number: 2016.266.3

Collection credit

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.