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Page with four informal sketches: the Union Jack, a personification of Britannia[?], peacock in a tree, and a swooping robin

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 458

Although the female head is likely Brittania, she might instead be Marianne, personification of France. The handshake depicted below this figure could refer to the romanticized friendship between France and England that followed the fall of Napoleon. The peacock is a traditional motif in Indian painting, while the red-breasted robin might be an idealization of a bird foreign to the Indian artist.

Page with four informal sketches: the Union Jack, a personification of Britannia[?], peacock in a tree, and a swooping robin, Ink and color on paper

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Page with four informal sketches: the Union Jack, a personification of Britannia[?], peacock in a tree, and a swooping robin, Ink and color on paper
Page with four informal sketches: the Union Jack, a personification of Britannia[?], peacock in a tree, and a swooping robin, Ink and color on paper

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