Sir Auckland Colvin and Family, Shimla (1887): Art, History and Details

Sir Auckland Colvin and Family, Shimla (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:

Deen Dayal’s large glass plate negatives and view camera required daylight to capture people without a blur, so his large group portraits are usually set before the sitters’ homes in their gardens. The equipment also dictated that scenes be carefully posed, not candid, shots. Sir Auckland Colvin (1838–1908) and his daughters were photographed in 1887, the year he became lieutenant governor of North-Western Provinces, a position his father had once held. The sitters are arranged so they orbit two framed photographs displayed on a table, presumably depictions of Colvin’s deceased wife and son. Thanks to photography, the entire Colvin family was reunited.

Object facts

• Title: Sir Auckland Colvin and Family, Shimla
• Date: 1887
• Creator attribution: Raja Deen Dayal (Indian, 1844–1905)
• Culture: India
• Type: Photograph
• Technique: albumen print
• Dimensions: Image: 20 x 26.9 cm (7 7/8 x 10 9/16 in.); Paper: 20 x 26.9 cm (7 7/8 x 10 9/16 in.)
• Collection: PH - Misc. 19th Century
• Department: Photography
• Accession number: 2016.266.8

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.