W. G. Archer

Last updated

William George Archer

OBE
Born(1907-02-01)1 February 1907
Died6 March 1979(1979-03-06) (aged 72)
Education School of Oriental Studies
Occupations
Employers
Television Monitor
Spouse Mildred Agnes Bell

William George Archer, OBE (1907-1979) was a British civil servant and art historian, and later museum curator.

Contents

Career

Archer was born on 1 February 1907, [1] and studied first history at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, [2] and then Hindi, Indian history and law at the School of Oriental Studies in London. [3] He subsequently served in the Indian Civil Service, in Bihar, from 1931 until around 1947, when India gained independence. [4] His roles included District Magistrate and Superintendent of the Census.He ordered to shoot 7 unarmed students who were trying to put the Indian flag on Patna secretariat during Quit India movement. [1] He was also Additional Deputy Commissioner in the Naga Hills from 1946 to 1948. [1] While in India, he developed a love and knowledge of Indian culture, including poetry and art, [4] and of the Santal people. [1] In the summer of 1934, while home from India on sick leave, he married the sister of one of his friends, Mildred Agnes Bell, who returned to India with him (she later worked as curator of prints and drawings at the India Office). [3] The couple, who had two children while in India, shared socialist politics and a belief that India should be granted independence. [1] [3]

After the family's return to England, they lived on Provost Road, north of London's Primrose Hill, [3] and Archer served as Keeper of the Indian Section, at the Victoria and Albert Museum from 1949-1959, [4] and afterwards Keeper Emeritus. [2]

In the 1950s and 60s, he presented arts programmes on BBC Television, as part of the series Monitor . [5] [6] He was a champion of the Indian artist Avinash Chandra. [4]

Recognition and legacy

Archer was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1948 New Year Honours, [7] and was awarded honorary doctorates by Panjab University in 1968 and Guru Nanak Dev University in 1976. [2] In 1978, he received the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland's Burton Memorial Medal. [2]

He died on 6 March 1979. [1]

His papers, together with those of his wife, are held by the British Library. [8]

Works

Books

Papers

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bengal</span> Region in the eastern Indian subcontinent

Bengal is a historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Bengal proper is divided between modern-day Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal. The Indian states of Assam and Tripura have a sizeable Bengali population. A large Bengali diaspora exists across the world. Bengali is the sixth-most spoken language in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jharkhand</span> State in eastern India

Jharkhand is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of 79,716 km2 (30,779 sq mi). It is the 15th largest state by area, and the 14th largest by population. Hindi is the official language of the state. The city of Ranchi is its capital and Dumka its sub-capital. The state is known for its waterfalls, hills and holy places; Baidyanath Dham, Parasnath, Dewri and Rajrappa are major religious sites.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santhal Pargana division</span> Division of Jharkhand, India

Santhal Pargana division constitutes six district administration units known as the divisions of Jharkhand state in eastern India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santal people</span> Ethnic group of India, Nepal and Bangladesh

The Santal people are an Austroasiatic-speaking Munda ethnic group of the Indian subcontinent. Santals are the largest tribe in the Jharkhand and West Bengal in terms of population and are also found in the states of Odisha, Bihar and Assam. They are the largest ethnic minority in northern Bangladesh's Rajshahi Division and Rangpur Division. They have a sizeable population in Nepal. The Santals speak Santali, the most widely spoken Munda languages of Austro-asiatic language family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian painting</span> History and overview of the painting in India

Indian painting has a very long tradition and history in Indian art, though because of the climatic conditions very few early examples survive. The earliest Indian paintings were the rock paintings of prehistoric times, such as the petroglyphs found in places like the Bhimbetka rock shelters. Some of the Stone Age rock paintings found among the Bhimbetka rock shelters are approximately 10,000 years old.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kalighat painting</span> School of Indian painting

Kalighat painting, Kalighat Patachitra, or Kalighat Pat is style of Indian paintings which originated in the 19th century. It was first practiced by a group of specialized scroll painters known as the patuas in the vicinity of the Kalighat Kali Temple in Kolkata, in the present Indian state of West Bengal. Composed of bold outlines, vibrant colour tones, and minimal background details, these paintings and drawings were done on both hand-made and machine manufactured paper. The paintings depicted mythological stories, figures of Hindu gods and goddesses, as well as scenes from everyday life and society, thereby recording a socio-cultural landscape which was undergoing a series of transitions during the 19th and early 20th century, when the Kalighat pat reached its pinnacle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santhal rebellion</span> Rebellion in present-day Jharkhand, Eastern India

The Santhal rebellion, was a rebellion in present-day Jharkhand and West Bengal, Eastern India against both the British East India Company (BEIC) and zamindari system by the Santhal. It started on June 30, 1855, and on November 10, 1855, martial law was proclaimed by the East India Company which lasted until January 3, 1856, when martial law was suspended and the rebellion was eventually suppressed by the Presidency armies. The rebellion was led by the four sibling Brothers - Sidhu, Kanhu, Chand and Bhairav.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nandalal Bose</span> Indian artist and a pioneer of modern Indian art (1882-1966)

Nandalal Bose was one of the pioneers of modern Indian art and a key figure of Contextual Modernism.

Mildred Archer OBE was an English art historian who specialized in 18th- and 19th-century art in British India. She was curator of Prints and Drawings at the India Office Library and wrote extensively on the collection and studies on them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Romesh Chunder Dutt</span> Historian, economist, writer, translator, civil servant, politician

Romesh Chunder Dutt was an Indian civil servant, economic historian, translator of Ramayana and Mahabharata. He was one of the prominent proponents of Indian economic nationalism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Company style</span> School of Indian painting

Company style, also known as Company painting is a term for a hybrid Indo-European style of paintings made in India by Indian artists, many of whom worked for European patrons in the East India Company or other foreign Companies in the 18th and 19th centuries. The style blended traditional elements from Rajput and Mughal painting with a more Western treatment of perspective, volume and recession. Most paintings were small, reflecting the Indian miniature tradition, but the natural history paintings of plants and birds were usually life size.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patna School of Painting</span> Style of Indian painting

Patna School of Painting is a style of Indian painting which existed in Bihar, India in the 18th and 19th centuries. Patna Qalaam was the world's first independent school of painting which dealt exclusively with the commoner and their lifestyle which also helped Patna Kalam paintings gain in popularity. The Principal centers were Patna, Danapur and Arrah.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles D'Oyly</span> British public official and painter from Dacca (now Dhaka)

Sir Charles D'Oyly, 7th Baronet (1781–1845), was a British public official and painter from Dacca. He was a member of the Bengal Civil Service based in Calcutta, Dacca and Patna from 1797 to 1838. Although he held senior positions with the East India Company's civil service, he is best known as an amateur artist who published many books featuring engravings and lithographs featuring Indian subject matter.

The Mal Paharia people are a Dravidian ethnic people of India, mainly living in the states of Jharkhand and West Bengal. They are the original inhabitants of the Rajmahal Hills, known today as the Santal Parganas division of Jharkhand. They are listed as a Scheduled Tribe by the governments of West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand. They speak the Malto language, a Dravidian language, as well as a poorly-documented Indo-Aryan Mal Paharia language.

Below is given a chronological record of tribal and peasant revolts in India before independence from British rule in the 1947. The list covers those tribal uprisings that occurred during the period of British rule in India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orissa Province</span> Province of British India (1936–1947)

Orissa Province was a province of British India created in April 1936 by the partitioning of the Bihar and Orissa Province. Its territory corresponds with the modern-day State of Odisha.

Brijinder Nath Goswamy is an Indian art critic, art historian and a former vice chairman of the Sarabhai Foundation of Ahmedabad, which runs the Calico Museum of Textiles. Goswamy is best known for his scholarship on Pahari painting and Indian miniature paintings. He is the author of over 20 books on arts and culture, including Sakti Burman: A Private Universe, a monograph on the life and works of Sakti Burman, renowned Bengali painter and Masters of Indian Painting 1100-1900, a treatise on Indian miniature art. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian award of the Padma Shri in 1998 and followed it up with the third highest honour of the Padma Bhushan in 2008.

George Francis Brown (1802–1871) was a British civil servant of the East India Company, and Commissioner of Bhagalpur, Bihar at the time of the Santhal rebellion.

Avinash Chandra was an Indian painter, who lived and worked in the United Kingdom.

Krishnaut or Kishnaut Ahir is a ruling clan of the Yadav (Ahir) caste found in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Nepal and other parts of the Indian state. The term Krishnaut denotes their descent from Lord Krishna.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "William Archer". Open University . Retrieved 4 August 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Skelton, Robert (1979). "Obituary: William George Archer". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. 2: 186–188. doi: 10.1017/S0035869X00135798 .
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Mildred Archer". The Independent. 9 October 2011. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Diaspora-artists: View details". Diaspora Artists. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
  5. "Correspondence about the making of the BBC Monitor film on Avinash Chandra". The National Archives . Retrieved 4 August 2018.
  6. "W.G. Archer". BBC Genome . Retrieved 4 August 2018.
  7. British Empire: "No. 38161". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 1947. p. 26.
  8. "Papers of W G Archer, Indian Civil Service, Bihar 1931-47, and of his wife Mildred Archer, experts on Indian poetry and art". The National Archives . Retrieved 4 August 2018.