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The artist James Ward is particularly noted for his animal and landscape paintings. The subject of this triple portrait is said to be a member of the Sakalava people of Madagascar. Who the subject was and why he was painted by Ward, who is not recorded as having visited Madagascar, is not known. The painting, from the collection of Dr Joseph Barnard Davis (1801–1881), was sold at Sotheby Wilkinson & Hodge in 1883, being described as ‘Oil Painting of triple Portraits of an Indian Nabob’. Davis was interested in the comparative study of various races, particularly craniology. The painting was given to the Museum by the curator A. W. Franks (1826–1897) who had acquired it at the Davis sale. Quite when the identification with a Sakalava was made is not known, although this was painted on the frame after the sale.
Title
Three Views of the Head of a Native (probably a Sakalava), Madagascar
Date
1815
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
H 60 x W 78 cm
Accession number
Af2006,Ptg.1
Acquisition method
gift from A. W. Franks, 1883
Work type
Painting
British Museum
Great Russell Street, London, Greater London WC1B 3DG England
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