Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Mumbai City Museum, Mumbai, India

graphs, and rare books that document the life of the people of Mumbai and the history of the city from the late 18th to early 20th centuries. Since the establishment of the Museum Trust in 2003, the Museum has augmented its permanent collection with new acquisitions, to create a comprehensive representation of the city’s art and culture from the 19th century onwards, including contemporary art. The curatorial strategy and display highlight the primary themes within the collection.

This museum houses a large number of archaeological finds, maps and historical photographs of Mumbai, clay models, silver and copper ware and costumes. Its significant collections include a 17th-century manuscript of Hatim Tai Outside the museum is the istallation of the monolithic basalt elephant sculpture recovered from the sea, which originated from Elephanta Island (Gharapuri Island).

Mumbai (Bombay) History
The Museum’s collection of miniature clay models, dioramas, maps, lithographs, photographs and rare books document and illustrate the life of the people of Mumbai and the history of the city from the late 18th to early 20th centuries.

In early 1900s the curators envisioned the Museum to be a centre for the collection and exhibition of pictorial records and antiquities of the history of the city and the neighbourhood in which the Museum was situated. A collection of facsimiles of maps, plans, prints and photographs of the islands of Bombay (now Mumbai) were procured. This collection was opened to the public in 1918. Dated between 1600 and 1900, the collection records the architectural history of the city and its evolution from seven islands to a vibrant urban centre or the Urbs Prima in Indis (first city in India) by the mid 19th century. It also chronicles the evolution in geography that resulted from invasions, economic growth and urban planning. On display are maps depicting the development of Bombay from the late 17th – early 20th centuries.

The collection includes models of the earliest boats in the city’s harbour, the first textile mills in Worli and a diorama of Bombay Castle, the administrative headquarters at the heart of the British Fort.

The Museum’s collection of glass negatives is a visual record of 19th century Mumbai. The collection has more than 1500 glass negatives and documents various aspects of the city including architecture, prominent citizens and old city views.

Trade & Cultural Exchange
Trade was always the dominant impulse in colonial India. At the height of Industrial Revolution in 1851, Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, conceived of international exhibitions to display industrial products from British colonies, a trend that soon spread to other European nations. Trade in Indian fine and decorative arts was stimulated by these international exhibitions and fairs of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which along with the Arts and Crafts movement in England, created international interest in Indian design and craftsmanship. Indian artisans were asked to produce objects of art to be sent all over the world for these international exhibitions.

In response to a growing market, experiments to modify Indian fine and decorative art products to suit European and anglicised Indian elite tastes were conducted by workshops and technical schools established by the British to train Indian artisans and craftsmen. From these schools and workshops emerged products for trade that merged Indian design with European form.

Copies of the industrial art products sent to the Paris Universal Exhibition in 1855 forms the nucleus of the collection in the Museum’s Industrial Arts Gallery.

Early Modern Period
The Museum's extraordinary collection of models and dioramas served to document the life and culture of 19th century Mumbai and is an important extension of the colonial project to capture in minute detail the people of India. Produced under the tutelage of the Museum's curators Ernst Fern and C. L. Burns, both of whom were also principals of the Sir J. J. School of Art, the collection also forms a unique art historical reference to the larger genre of Company School painting. ‘Company painting’ refers to the hybrid style that emerged during the early 18th to the 19th centuries. Used to document different aspects of Indian life such as festivals, occupations, communities, local rulers and monuments, the style was naturalistic and displays European influence on Indian art.

From the mid-19th century, schools of Art and technical training established by the British in India, imparted western art education to Indian artists and craftsmen. Closely associated with the earliest museums, these institutions critically impacted the development of art practice in India.

In Mumbai, the Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy School, then popularly known as the Bombay School of Art, opened in 1856 with the intention of teaching students the ‘science of art’, or the technical skills required to become master draughtsmen. The School shared a close association with the Museum, then known as the Victoria and Albert Museum, with several principals of the School serving simultaneously as the Museum’s curators. As a result, the Museum became a showcase for the new designs, decorative art products and modes of representation in painting and sculpture that were created by the students of the School. Some of these students later became Mumbai’s most renowned artists like Rao Bahadur M. V. Dhurandhar, Baburao Sadwelkar and P. A. Dhond.

Modern & Contemporary
Since the establishment of the Museum Trust in 2003, the Museum has augmented its permanent collection with new acquisitions, to create a comprehensive representation of the city’s art and culture from the 19th century onwards, including contemporary art.

A collection of paintings by early 20th century J.J. School artists offer valuable insights into the School’s formative period and the beginnings of Indian modernism, complementing the Museum’s permanent collection from the early modern period. These works are illustrative of the revivalist, ‘Indian Renaissance’ art movement of the time, which drew inspiration from classical Indian art practices, specifically, the earlier tradition of Rajput painting. Artworks by Keshav Phadke, Kamalakant Save and Subhadra Anandkar are a part of this collection.

A series of curated exhibitions titled 'Engaging Traditions', invites artists to respond to the Museum’s collection, history and archives. Through the exhibitions, the Museum has acquired works by contemporary artists such as Reena Kallat, Ranjani Shettar, Nalini Malani and Archana Hande.

Award:
The Museum Restoration Project won the 2005 UNESCO Asia Pacific Heritage

Through a holistic conservation plan, which has addressed both the museum building and the collection, the project establishes a new benchmark in the conservation of museums for India and the region. By modernising the internal infrastructure while paying careful attention to restoring the decorative details of the building, the project has demonstrated a balanced approach between the refined mastery of conservation techniques and the support of crafts skills.

The project has succeeded in sparking the revival of dying techniques such as gilding and stencil work. The building now stands as a unique testimony to the development of Victorian architecture in the context of the hybrid building and crafts traditions of 19th century India, as well as to the civic traditions embodied in one of the country's earliest museums.