Object- Painting
Title- Deportation of the King and Queen from Mandalay - 1885
Date- ca. 1885-1895 (painted)
Techniques- Gouache on cotton cloth
Place- Mandalay (City), Burma (painted)
Dimensions-
Height 93 cm (overall)
Width 106 cm (overall)
Height 81.5 cm (painting)
Width 92 cm (painting)
Current Location- Victoria & Albert Museum
Museum number- IS.50-1981
Museum number- IS.50-1981
This painting shows the departure of King Thibaw (r. 1878-1885) and Queen Supayalat from Mandalay to exile in India at the end of the third Anglo-Burmese war in 1885, when Britain annexed Upper Burma, finally gaining control of the whole of the country.
The King and Queen stand in the centre of the picture under umbrellas, with two children in front and courtiers to their right. In the background is the palace, and on each side its walls. The road is lined with British troops, with a British officer mounted on a horse on each side.
Two bullock-drawn carriages are on the left, and in front of the royal party (in the foreground) stand British and Sikh officers, and two Burmese officials wearing short black jackets and pahsoes of luntaya-acheik patterned silk.
It is likely that this picture is intended to represent the moment when the King and Queen had been brought from the palace and, having got out of their carriage, were about to embark on the river-steamer to begin the first stage of their journey into exile in India.
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