Cleveland Museum of Art

Juggler

Date

c. 1840

Medium

ink and gouache on paper

Culture

India, Company School, Lucknow or Patna, 19th century

Department

Indian and Southeast Asian Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

A page from a book of paintings that would have included images of various entertainments in India, this painting is rendered in a European style for British consumption. The label Juggler is written in a Victorian-era hand in the margin below. The main figure is seated on the ground with his knees drawn tightly up under his chin, reinforcing a Western stereotype that all Indian people can do physical feats with their bodies, like yogis. On display are his talents of manipulating balls on a two-stringed bow, called “juggling” by the British owner of the painting for lack of a better moniker. His performance was intended to create a spectacle for entertainment and income. This painting would have been made for sale too, in the new economy under British dominance in which Indian artists made documentary pictures for foreign overlords. Cowrie shells, in front of him, were used as money.

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