Les Jongleurs Indiens

Etcher Georges Jacques Gatine French
 After Louis-Marie Lanté French
 Publisher Pierre de La Mésangère French

Not on view

Watched by fashionably dressed European couple, three Indian jugglers sit on a platform with one balancing a cane on his nose and spinning rings with both hands and one foot. The performers had arrived in London from Calcutta in 1813 with a troupe brought on the HMS Lord Keith by Captain Peter Campbell. Cambell first arranged private performances for the Prince Regent and other dignitaries, then installed the troupe at 87 Pall Mall and admitted the public for three shillings to performances held four times a day. These included "jugglery, acrobatics, yogic contortions, and sleight of hand," with tickets costing three shillings. This print records a performance in 1816 and was published to illustrate Le Bon Genre (1817), a book that described French life and fashion.

Les Jongleurs Indiens, Georges Jacques Gatine (French, Caen, ca. 1773–after 1841), Hand-colored etching and engraving

This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Open Access

As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.

API

Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.