File:Sir John Dalling and fellow officers in procession; and Sir John Dalling and fellow officers watching a nautch.jpg

Tanjore School, circa 1785-6 Sir John Dalling and fellow officers in procession; and Sir John Dalling and fellow officers watching a nautch one with inscription 'General Sir John Dalling. Bart/Governor of Madras.' (on the stretcher) pen and black ink and bodycolour, heightened with gold, varnished, on paper laid down on canvas 24¼ x 35¾ in. (61.5 x 90.8 cm.) a pair (2) Special Notice

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The art historical term Company School Painting, is derived from the patrons who for the most part were employees of the various European East India Companies. The European visitor to India who arrived in the last quarter of the 18th Century tended to have time on his hands to appreciate Indian culture. A romantic fascination with Indian everyday life led the Europeans to commission vast sets of watercolours to send back to friends and family, depicting tradesmen and local crafts, conveyances, bazaars, architecture and the local flora and fauna. Indian artists were trained in the court ateliers of Mughal and Rajput leaders as manuscript illustrators. Their technique was characterized by a vibrant palette and a miniaturist attention to detail, where pattern was more important than naturalism. Western naturalism, however, began to influence the local artists as they began to copy the painting techniques and palettes of artists such as Hodges, the Daniells, Solvyns and D'Oyly. Company painting was a short-lived phenomenon at its apogee between 1800-1840. Earlier works are rare and after 1850 photography was a preferred medium to record Indian life for the people back home.