Maharaja Sarabhoji of Tanjore (c.1798-1832)
Anna Tonelli (Florence c.1763 – Florence 1846)
Category
Art / Drawings and watercolours
Date
1800
Materials
Watercolour on paper
Measurements
200 mm (H)215 mm (W)
Place of origin
Tanjore
Order this imageCollection
Powis Castle and Garden, Powys
NT 1180777
Caption
The life and work of Anna Tonelli was profoundly shaped by conflict in Europe and colonial India. A trained portraitist, she built up a clientele in Britain in the 1790s for her intimate pastel likenesses and exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts. She maintained this professional practice while working as a companion and governess in aristocratic households, including that of the Clives of Powis Castle, Powys. An accomplished singer and harpsichordist, she taught her charges music as well as Italian and drawing. Born in Florence as Anna Nistri, she married the violinist Luigi Tonelli, with whom she had two children in around 1789–90. The arrival of the French Revolutionary Wars in the Italian peninsula, and the disruptions this caused in the portrait market, probably informed her decision to move to Britain alone. Her letters reveal a tact and warmth of personality that must have been invaluable in the complex negotiation between public artistic practice and private domestic service; Henrietta, Lady Clive, described her as ‘a treasure’. However, correspondence also documents the strain of separation from her war-torn country and her own children, whom she supported by her income. These financial considerations led her to accept an invitation from the Clives to accompany them to India in 1798, where Lord Edward Clive had been appointed Governor of Madras by the East India Company. This three-year stay culminated in a 1,000-mile tour through Tipu Sultan’s recently defeated Kingdom of Mysore as part of Lady Clive’s entourage. Tonelli’s skills were deployed for diplomatic aspects of this journey, which pushed her art in new directions. The intricate detail of her portrait of Maharaja Sarahbhoji of Tanjore responds to the type of picture that Indian artists, trained in late-Mughal miniature techniques, had developed to appeal to the taste of European colonists, known as ‘Company School’ painting.
Summary
Watercolour on paper, Sarabhoji, Maharaja of Tanjore (r.1798-1832) (1800), by Anna Tonelli (Florence c.1763 – Florence 1846). Seated with cushions behind, wearing jama and turban, richly jewelled; earrings and necklaces; his hands resting in his lap.
Provenance
Anna Tonelli accompanied Lady Clive on her Indian journey from 1798 to 1801 as governess to her two daughters. Drawn by Anna Tonelli (Florence c.1763 – Florence 1846) when Lady Henrietta Clive (1758-1830) visited the Raja of Tanjore in 1800. Purchased by the National Trust with funding from The National Heritage Memorial Fund from John George Herbert, 8th Earl of Powis and Powis Estate Trustees in August 1999.
Makers and roles
Anna Tonelli (Florence c.1763 – Florence 1846), photographer
References
Archer, Rowell and Skelton 1987 Mildred Archer, Christopher Rowell, and Robert Skelton, Treasures from India: The Clive Collection at Powis Castle, London, 1987, pp.133-4 Chu 2018 John Chu, ‘Game of Thrones in an 'Asiatic World': Henrietta Clive and Anna Tonelli in British India’, National Trust Historic Houses & Collections Annual, 2018, pp.39, 41 Conroy, Rachel, Women Artists and Designers at the National Trust, 2025, pp. 86-89