Lord Dufferin and the Supreme Council of Government of India

1887

Raja Deen Dayal

(Indian, 1844–1905)

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Culture

India

Medium

albumen print

Measurements

Image: 19.4 x 27.3 cm (7 5/8 x 10 3/4 in.); Paper: 19.4 x 27.3 cm (7 5/8 x 10 3/4 in.)

Credit Line

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 2016.266.3

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Location

Not on view

Description

Each summer, the British government left the heat of Calcutta for Shimla in the foothills of the Himalayas, where this photograph was taken. In 1885, Deen Dayal began spending his summers there to be near the officials, who were both subjects and clients. The viceroy, or British ruler, of India, Frederick Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava (1826–1902), sits at the center of this staged meeting of the Supreme Council. Deen Dayal made images of Lord Dufferin and his wife, herself an amateur photographer, that led to his appointment as photographer to the viceroy, which resulted in access to other members of the British elite.