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Thomas Hickey , Irish, 1741-1824

Title

An Indian Lady, perhaps 'Jemdanee', Bibi of William Hickey

Date1787

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions

102 x 127 cm

Signedlower left: T. Hickey 1787

Credit LinePresented, Sir Alec Martin, through the Friends of the National Collections of Ireland, 1959

Object numberNGI.1390

DescriptionThis picture, painted in Kolkata (then Calcutta) during Hickey’s first stay in India (1784-91), is one of the artist’s finest works in oils. It has been suggested that the sitter was Jemdanee, the Indian bibi or mistress of the lawyer and diarist William Hickey, a close friend but no relation of the artist. Indian women, with the exception of bibis or dancers, would not normally have allowed themselves to be painted by Western male artists. The deportment of the woman in this portrait, cross-legged and barefoot on a divan, did not correspond to Western mores and corresponding portraiture, but was consistent with Indian custom.
ProvenancePresented, Sir Alec Martin, through the Friends of the National Collections of Ireland, 1959 Exhibition HistoryIrish Portraits 1660-1860, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 14 August - 14 October 1969; National Portrait Gallery, London, 30 October 1969 - 4 January 1970; Ulster Museum, Belfast, 28 January - 9 March 1970

Aspects of Irish Art, a Loan Exhibition; Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts, Columbus, Ohio, 27 January - 3 March 1974; Toledo Museum of Arts, Toledo, Ohio, 17 March - 14 April 1974; St Louis Art Museum, St Louis, Missouri, 3 May - 9 June 1974

Label TextThis picture, painted in Calcutta during Hickey’s first stay in India (1784-88), is one of his finest works in oils. It has been suggested that the sitter was Jemdanee, the Indian bibi or mistress of the lawyer and diarist William Hickey, a close friend but no relation of the artist. Indian women would not normally have allowed themselves to be painted by a Western male artist, and would not have sat cross-legged and barefoot. The young woman’s pose, sitting on cushions, is probably the portrait’s least conventional characteristic.