One of nineteen drawings illustrating processes in the manufacture of opium at the Opium Factory at Gulzarbagh, Patna, in Bihar.
1857
paint
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
1857
paint
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
One of nineteen drawings illustrating processes in the manufacture of opium at the Opium Factory at Gulzarbagh, Patna, in Bihar. is a 1857 paint by Shiva Lal, a Patna School of Painting work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.
You see a small painting on thin, shiny mica. It shows workers processing opium in a factory. The details are sharp but the colors are soft. This wasn’t made for art—it was a guide for British officials. The artist, Shiva Lal, worked for them in 1857. He painted each step so the British could check how their opium was made. Look up Shiva Lal if you want to see more works like this.
One of nineteen mica-based Company Paintings by Shiva Lal from 1857, this work depicts a stage in opium production at the Gulzarbagh factory in Patna, Bihar. Commissioned by Dr. D. R. Lyall for a series of wall paintings, the project was abandoned after his death during the 1857 Indian Mutiny. The drawing shows opium being weighed in scales. The series was created under British patronage for documenting industrial processes.
Read the full account in the museum source.
A Mewari painter active in the mid-1800s, Shiva Lal made precise, lively records of daily life and workshops.
See the richer artist page
