In Search of New Markets: Craft Traditions in Nineteenth-Century India

Monumental stone sculpture, metal shrines, votive objects, painted textiles, manuscripts and so-called “miniatures” from South Asia offer visitors to the Museum’s lower-level galleries a rich overview of the region’s art history. The vast majority of these works were created for religious or courtly settings, whether in Buddhist, Hindu, Jain or Islamic cultural contexts. The objects on display for In Search of New Markets, by contrast, were created for commercial purposes. This exhibition, which marks the first time that several of these works have been on view at the Museum, explores the historical sources and practices that informed the production of ceramics and wooden furniture in colonial India. It also reveals the distinctly modern modes of promotion and distribution that were used to generate demand for them.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.