English Babu (Native Indian Clerk) Holding a Hookahc. 1890 · Study 2003.145

Context from the museum

This is an archetypal satirical caricature of a native Indian clerk (babu), a Bengali dapper dandy whose fashion sense combines British and Indian mores with dissonant results. Imitating his British masters, he sits cross-legged on a Victorian chair, holding a hookah, sporting a Prince Albert hairstyle, and wearing European buckled shoes. His posture models popular photo studio portraits of the time. Kalighat painters ridiculed these vain babus as foppish nouveau riche.

Museum description reproduced from its CC0 open-access record. Read the original catalog entry.

Read the dimensions before the image

The selected painting only measurement for English Babu (Native Indian Clerk) Holding a Hookah is 28 cm wide and 45.7 cm high, equivalent to approximately 11.0 × 18.0 inches. Dividing width by height gives a format ratio of 0.61:1. The rectangular bounding area is 0.13 square meters; it describes the measured footprint, not the amount of paint or the monetary value.

On an illustrative 300 cm wall, the recorded width occupies 9.3% of the span before adding a frame. A centered placement leaves approximately 136.0 cm on each side before adding a frame. These are calculations by Physical Art For Crypto using museum measurements. They are not the museum’s display recommendations.

Questions to bring to your own collection

With English Babu (Native Indian Clerk) Holding a Hookah in view, identify one feature you can point to, then distinguish what the museum records from your personal response. Keep its medium, Gum tempera, graphite, ink, and tin on paper, in your notes when comparing contemporary works.

• Which part of this vertical composition catches your eye first?
• Would a 28 cm width still suit the space after allowing for furniture and a frame?
• What surface detail would you need to see in person or in a close photograph?