Company (style)

A style of painting in India created by descendants of Mughal artists for the British in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The artistic centers of this style were Delhi in the north, Lucknow, Calcuta and Patna in the east, and Madras and Thanjavar in the south. The subject matter of these 'Company paintings' consisted of flowers, animals, caste groups, festivals, and scenic spots; the techniques were adapted from European watercolors. The names derives from the East India Company, with which the patrons of the Company style were often associated. The patrons tended to have a genuine scientific interest in the Indian culture and environment rather than a passing curiosity about the exotic.