Sinhalese Man (c. 1880s): Art, History and Details

Sinhalese Man (c. 1880s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Scowen & Co. (British, active Ceylon, 1876–1895); Skeen & Co. (British, active 1860–1920).

The work and its context

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

The gentleman sports a Western jacket and shirt, but his distinctive hairstyle identifies him as Sinhalese, a people originally from northern India who now form the majority of the population of Sri Lanka.

Object facts

• Title: Sinhalese Man
• Date: c. 1880s
• Creator attribution: Scowen & Co. (British, active Ceylon, 1876–1895); Skeen & Co. (British, active 1860–1920)
• Culture: India, 19th century
• Type: Photograph
• Technique: albumen print
• Dimensions: Image: 14.1 x 9.1 cm (5 9/16 x 3 9/16 in.); Paper: 14.1 x 9.4 cm (5 9/16 x 3 11/16 in.)
• Collection: PH - British 19th Century
• Department: Photography
• Accession number: 2018.221

A detail from the museum

Formally posed in a studio in profile, rather like a specimen, the image is more likely an anthropological study than a commissioned portrait.

Collection credit

Purchase from the Karl B. Goldfield Trust

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.