How The East India Company Tried To Use Paintings To Lionise Robert Clive – And Failed

The East India Company tried to use marble portrait statues commissioned by the company in 1760, depicting men dressed as Romans, to lionize Robert Clive. However, their attempt failed, as less than a decade later, Robert Clive’s reputation as a hero had collapsed. During Robert Clive’s lifetime, the East India Company commissioned two portraits showing […]

The East Offering Her Riches To Britannia

The East Offering Her Riches To Britannia

This is the story of The East offering her Riches to Britannia, a painting commissioned by the 24 Directors of the East India Company. In 1778, the directors of the East India Company installed an extravagant new painting in their London headquarters, East India House. Like much corporate art before and since, the quality of […]