Dr Jennifer Howes
LightNews LightNews
banner
jhowesuk.bsky.social
Dr Jennifer Howes
@jhowesuk.bsky.social
1.2K followers 280 following 310 posts
Art Historian looking for dirt on Britain’s imperial past in museums & archives. Author of “The Art of a Corporation: The East India Company as Patron and Collector". Wife, mother, pug owner.
www.jenniferhowes.com
Posts Replies Media Videos
Pinned
jhowesuk.bsky.social
Dr Jennifer Howes @jhowesuk.bsky.social · Mar 26
“The India Directors in the Suds”, 1772. “Suds” was a euphemism for sewage. This pic is on the cover of my book, “The Art of a Corporation: The East India Co…” Now in paperback! Get 25% off through Routledge with this code: CISAC2025 @routledgehistory.bsky.social www.routledge.com/The-Art-of-a...
A group of white men recoil in horror at a ghostly apparition of Indian men. The Indians represent victims of the 1772 Bengal Famine & the white men represent the directors of the London-based East India Company.
jhowesuk.bsky.social
Merry Christmas!!!
A little pug with a pint of lager in a traditional English pub.
December 25, 2025 at 7:15 AM
jhowesuk.bsky.social
‘The royal charter empowered the Hudson’s Bay Company to make laws, wage war and run commerce across… all lands “not already possessed by the subjects of any other Christian Prince or State”.’
Canada’s first Christmas without the Hudson’s Bay Company
economist.com/the-americas...
Canada’s first Christmas without the Hudson’s Bay Company
From fur-trading outpost to department-store giant, founding a country along the way
economist.com
December 22, 2025 at 7:47 AM
jhowesuk.bsky.social
‘Santa and his naughty or nice list was a “western binary” teaching children that the “coloniser has the power to judge all people”.’ Santa Claus needs to be decolonised, says museum

www.thetimes.com/article/046e...
Santa Claus needs to be decolonised, says museum
Brighton and Hove Museums said that Father Christmas and his naughty or nice list were a ‘western binary’ and proposed Mother Christmas to tackle the patriarchy
www.thetimes.com
December 22, 2025 at 5:22 AM
jhowesuk.bsky.social
While walking past the British Museum, I saw this Amaravati sculpture, shining like a gold coin. I couldn’t access the gallery & identify it because of a power cut! But here’s a link to a similar sized Amaravati roundel in the BM’s collections www.britishmuseum.org/collection/i...
A tall window on the north side of the British Museum. Inside the window you can see a round sculpture from the Buddhist stupa at Amaravati, Andhra Pradesh, India. In the 19th Century, over a hundred sculptures from Amaravati were shipped to London by the East India Company. In 1880 they were transferred to the British Museum.
December 3, 2025 at 4:30 PM
jhowesuk.bsky.social
Dharmendra, you had a great run!! 💔 youtu.be/qRdoJJb_rrU?...
Yeh Dosti Hum Nahi Todenge | Sholay | Amitabh Bachchan | Dharmendra | Kishore Kumar Hit Songs
YouTube video by Koffee With FilmiGaane
youtu.be
November 24, 2025 at 12:13 PM
jhowesuk.bsky.social
Gold tiger head, slightly larger than a golf ball, decorated with rubies, emeralds & diamonds. From the throne of Tipu Sultan of Mysore. After Tipu’s death in May 1799 the throne was dismantled & its pieces distributed as loot. This piece is from a private collection, now on display @V&A South Ken
Gold tiger head decorated with rubies, emeralds and diamonds. Four of these decorated the throne of Tipu Sultan of Mysore.
November 23, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Reposted by Dr Jennifer Howes
quaritch1847.bsky.social
🎃 Happy Halloween! This appropriately spooky binding comes from a sammelband of works on the guillotine, containing thirteen items on its invention, history, use, and physiological effects.
October 31, 2025 at 12:30 PM
jhowesuk.bsky.social
I’m in Canada right now and it suddenly feels desperately important that everyone listens to this 5 minute speech from beginning to end.
youtu.be/5t5QK03KXPc?...
President Reagan's Radio Address on Free and Fair Trade on April 25, 1987
YouTube video by Reagan Library
youtu.be
October 25, 2025 at 1:22 PM
jhowesuk.bsky.social
warburg.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...
October 24, 2025 at 11:55 AM
jhowesuk.bsky.social
500 year old recipe for roasted meat: Dig pit, line with flowers & clay. Place stones in & light a fire. When hot, layer in packets of meat & game birds wrapped in banana leaves. When full, cover with banana leaves & flowers, seal pit, build fire on top, leave overnight. British Library, IO ISL.149.
Illustration from folio 115b in the Ni’matnama (“Book of Delights”), a 15th century manuscript from the Sultanate Kingdom of Mandu. British Library, IO ISL.149
October 24, 2025 at 10:47 AM
jhowesuk.bsky.social
500 year old recipe for samosas: Cook minced deer meat in ghee with fenugreek & saffron. Roast some salt & cumin. Add to the meat along with cloves, coriander, musk, minced onion & ginger. Add rose wate. Stuff samosas & fry in sweet smelling ghee until tender. @britishlibrary.bsky.social IO ISL.149
Samosas being prepared for Sultan Ghiyath Shahi of Mandu. From the "Book of Delights", the Ni'matnama, compiled in around 1500 at the Sultanate Kingdom of Mandu, central India. This manuscript is now in the British Library. IO ISL.149, folio 83b.
October 23, 2025 at 10:32 AM
jhowesuk.bsky.social
15th c recipe for sweet milk pudding: Buy a black or yellow cow. Feed it sugarcane, grass, cotton seeds, date sugar, cinnamon, coconut, nutmeg & partridge eggs. Milk cow, boil milk, skim cream & strain. Add wheat flour. Fry in ghee with cloves, date sugar & pepper corns. British Library, IO ISL.149.
Illustrated folio on page 4b from a 460 year old illustrated book of recipes, the “Book of Delights”, the Ni’matnama of the Sultans of Mandu, 15th Century. In the British Library, IO Islamic,149.
October 22, 2025 at 11:07 AM
jhowesuk.bsky.social
Prince Azam Shah, 3rd son of Aurangzeb, on horseback. Below the horse is a cavalry division in miniature, including 3 elephants. By a Mughal court artist, c.1690. David Collection Copenhagen (4/1980)
Mughal painting of Prince Azam Shah, 3rd son of Aurangzeb, c.1690. In the David Collection, Copenhagen (4/1980) Detail in the lower right of an equestrian portrait of Prince Azam Shah, showing three elephants and cavalry soldiers. By a Mughal court artist, c.1690. David Collection, Copenhagen (4/1980)
October 11, 2025 at 7:18 AM
jhowesuk.bsky.social
Bad behaviour at Patna, c.1830. By an Indian artist, copied from a cartoon by Charles D’Oyly illustrating his burlesque poem, “Tom Raw the Griffin”. David Collection Copenhagen, 5/2017
“A Company of Englishmen”. Painting by an artist from Patna, c.1830. In the David Collection Copenhagen (5/2017)
October 10, 2025 at 7:11 AM
jhowesuk.bsky.social
Want to procure the paperback edition of my book? Go to Routledge's website and use the code TAOC25 to get a 25% discount. www.jenniferhowes.com/the-art-of-a...
Company painting of a bookbinder by an artist from Kolkata/Murshidabad/Lucknow, some time between 1798 and 1804. British library, Add.Or.1111.
October 7, 2025 at 6:15 PM
Reposted by Dr Jennifer Howes
ihreurope1500.bsky.social
FIRST SESSION THIS MONDAY! Join us for "At the Cusp of the Modern? Tipu Sultan, the Family & East India Company Rule", a paper by @eicathomefinn.bsky.social with comment by @jhowesuk.bsky.social

All welcome in person @ihr.bsky.social & on zoom (register for link: www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...)
Europe and the world, 1500-1800, IHR seminar, Mondays, 17:30. 6 October: Margot Finn: At the Cusp of the Modern? Tipu Sultan, the Family & East India Company Rule 10 November: Sari Nauman: Between Categories: Migration, War, and Refuge in the Early Modern Baltic Sea 17 November Roger Lee Jesus: Colonialism and Land: Rethinking Imperial and Local Agency in the Portuguese Empire in Asia 1 December: Ana Lucia Araujo: Dahomey: A West African Kingdom in the Centre of the World During the Eighteenth Century
October 3, 2025 at 11:13 AM
jhowesuk.bsky.social
Up-ended cannons used as ash trays, BBD Bagh, Kolkata.
Muzzle of a cannon protruding from the pavement, BBD Bagh, Kolkata. The cannon and the curb next to it have been painted sky-blue. I took this picture in 2023. Large cannon muzzle protruding from the cobblestone pavement of BBD Bagh, Kolkata. Behind the cannon there is a shop stall. I took this picture in 2023.
September 30, 2025 at 5:30 AM
jhowesuk.bsky.social
I’m pleased to be taking part in the first seminar in this series, on 6 October 2015, with Margot Finn!!
ihreurope1500.bsky.social Europe & the World at the IHR @ihreurope1500.bsky.social · Sep 27
NEW PROGRAMME! What an exciting one it is!
We're looking forward to thinking with @eicathomefinn.bsky.social, Sari Nauman, @rogerleejesus.bsky.social & @araujohistorian.bsky.social

Mondays, 17:30 @ihr.bsky.social & zoom. All very welcome! www.history.ac.uk/news-events/... #EarlyModern #SkyStorians
Europe and the world, 1500-1800, IHR seminar, Mondays, 17:30. 6 October: Margot Finn: At the Cusp of the Modern? Tipu Sultan, the Family & East India Company Rule 10 November: Sari Nauman: Between Categories: Migration, War, and Refuge in the Early Modern Baltic Sea 17 November Roger Lee Jesus: Colonialism and Land: Rethinking Imperial and Local Agency in the Portuguese Empire in Asia 1 December: Ana Lucia Araujo: Dahomey: A West African Kingdom in the Centre of the World During the Eighteenth Century
September 27, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Reposted by Dr Jennifer Howes
artologica.net
Morning walk
Wheat paste poster that says the all the world is dying and the new world struggles to be born now is the time of monsters. There's a picture of Elmo
September 26, 2025 at 12:09 PM
jhowesuk.bsky.social
On 6 October 2025 I’ll be the discussant for @eicathomefinn.bsky.social’s paper, “At the Cusp of the Modern? Tipu Sultan, the Family & East India Company Rule”. IHR Europe & the World Seminar, Senate House, London. Hybrid event! Details here www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...
September 27, 2025 at 7:02 AM
jhowesuk.bsky.social
Autumn vibe
September 16, 2025 at 10:48 AM
jhowesuk.bsky.social
Ran into Col James Skinner in the National Portrait Gallery’s “Colonial Expansion & Experience” room! He was the founder of the irregular cavalry regiment, “Skinner’s Horse”, in early 19th Century India. On permanent loan from @britishlibrary.bsky.social (F9)

www.npg.org.uk/collections/...
Portrait of James Skinner, attributed to Ghulam Husayn Khan, c.1836. British Library collections (F9), now in permanent display in the National Portrait Gallery London (room 10).
September 15, 2025 at 8:49 AM
jhowesuk.bsky.social
Before the internet
September 14, 2025 at 6:45 AM
Reposted by Dr Jennifer Howes
eicathomefinn.bsky.social
'Banksy confirmed he was responsible for the work with a post on Instagram, showing the graffiti before it was covered over.'
Banksy 'judge' mural scrubbed from Royal Courts of Justice wall
The artwork of a judge hitting a protester with a gavel has been removed from the listed building.
www.bbc.co.uk
September 10, 2025 at 12:31 PM
jhowesuk.bsky.social
“Calcutta Freed January 11 1757”, from Vice Admiral Charles Watson’s memorial in Westminster Abbey. I’ll be talking about this and other sculptures on a tour of East India Company monuments in Westminster Abbey & St Paul’s Cathedral, Tuesday October 7. Details here: www.bacsa.org.uk/event/westmi...
A woman in Greco-Indian costume genuflecting towards a statue of Vice-Admiral Charles Watson. Below her is an inscription reading “Calcutta Freed January 11 1757”.
September 10, 2025 at 9:19 AM