Fancy Ball, Indore
Medium
albumen print
Dimensions
image: 12.2 × 19.9 cm · paper: 12.9 × 19.9 cm
Classification
Photograph
Department
Photography
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Accession Number
2016.266.36
Tags
male
About this artwork
Entertainments at “fancy dress” or costume parties often included amateur theatricals or tableaux vivants—static scenes drawn from literature, history, or artworks. Here, Deen Dayal captured three moments distilled from a popular novel or play. The guests—all middle or upper class—perform as characters ranging from the working class to ladies and gentlemen. Because the photographic technology of the time required strong daylight, the photographs would have been made on a separate occasion, not a...