Dr Jennifer Howes
@jhowesuk.bsky.social
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
www.jenniferhowes.com
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.
October 24, 2025 at 10:47 AM
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.
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
October 23, 2025 at 10:32 AM
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
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.
October 22, 2025 at 11:07 AM
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.
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)
October 11, 2025 at 7:18 AM
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)
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
October 10, 2025 at 7:11 AM
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
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...
October 7, 2025 at 6:15 PM
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...
Up-ended cannons used as ash trays, BBD Bagh, Kolkata.
September 30, 2025 at 5:30 AM
Up-ended cannons used as ash trays, BBD Bagh, Kolkata.
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
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/...
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/...
www.npg.org.uk/collections/...
September 15, 2025 at 8:49 AM
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/...
www.npg.org.uk/collections/...
Before the internet
September 14, 2025 at 6:45 AM
Before the internet
“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...
September 10, 2025 at 9:19 AM
“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...
Bristol's statue of Edward Colston (1636-1721), made in 1895, is on permanent display in the M Shed Museum's "Bristol People" Gallery. It's a 10 minute walk from the plinth where it stood until 2020.
September 8, 2025 at 7:08 AM
Bristol's statue of Edward Colston (1636-1721), made in 1895, is on permanent display in the M Shed Museum's "Bristol People" Gallery. It's a 10 minute walk from the plinth where it stood until 2020.
In the crypt of @stpaulscathedral.bsky.social, Mountstuart Elphinstone (1779-1859), Governor of Bombay & Historian of India, has been patiently standing in the cafeteria queue for decades.
September 6, 2025 at 9:49 AM
In the crypt of @stpaulscathedral.bsky.social, Mountstuart Elphinstone (1779-1859), Governor of Bombay & Historian of India, has been patiently standing in the cafeteria queue for decades.
This year I planted carrots for the first time. I’m baffled by the results.
September 5, 2025 at 4:25 PM
This year I planted carrots for the first time. I’m baffled by the results.
I thought the one on the left was Kurma… looks like they’re churning the ocean underneath him!
September 1, 2025 at 12:31 PM
I thought the one on the left was Kurma… looks like they’re churning the ocean underneath him!
Marble figures of Hindu deities by an artist from Jaipur. Are they avatars of Vishnu? Collected by Major General Charles “Hindoo” Stuart in the early 19th century, now in the British Museum London @britishmuseum.bsky.social
September 1, 2025 at 11:49 AM
Marble figures of Hindu deities by an artist from Jaipur. Are they avatars of Vishnu? Collected by Major General Charles “Hindoo” Stuart in the early 19th century, now in the British Museum London @britishmuseum.bsky.social
Statues of Charles Fox and William Pitt in St Stephen’s Hall, Palace of Westminster. Rivals in the 18th Century, they eternally face each other in a weird staring competition. If they came to life, they’d throw pies at each other.
August 28, 2025 at 6:37 AM
Statues of Charles Fox and William Pitt in St Stephen’s Hall, Palace of Westminster. Rivals in the 18th Century, they eternally face each other in a weird staring competition. If they came to life, they’d throw pies at each other.
Today I saw the burial place of Thomas Babington Macaulay in Westminster Abbey, & I wondered if he had the faintest idea how he’d be remembered in India.
August 27, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Today I saw the burial place of Thomas Babington Macaulay in Westminster Abbey, & I wondered if he had the faintest idea how he’d be remembered in India.
The tiger head modelled into this large fibreglass trophy’s handle is based on an ornament cut from Tipu Sultan’s gold throne in 1799. It was gifted to King George III and is now part of the Royal Collections Trust, Windsor Castle (RCIN 67212). (2/2)
August 26, 2025 at 4:30 PM
The tiger head modelled into this large fibreglass trophy’s handle is based on an ornament cut from Tipu Sultan’s gold throne in 1799. It was gifted to King George III and is now part of the Royal Collections Trust, Windsor Castle (RCIN 67212). (2/2)
The gold throne of Tipu Sultan, looted from Srirangapatna in 1799, is one of the design features of Hew Locke’s installation, ‘Gilt’ (2022) at Compton Verney, Warwickshire. (1/2)
August 26, 2025 at 4:30 PM
The gold throne of Tipu Sultan, looted from Srirangapatna in 1799, is one of the design features of Hew Locke’s installation, ‘Gilt’ (2022) at Compton Verney, Warwickshire. (1/2)
Perfect morning! Walked my little dog in the Chiltern Hills while listening to Bobby Friction spin tunes on BBC6, then he interviewed my lovely colleague Dalbir “Tabla Jedi” Rattan. What a surprise!
August 17, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Perfect morning! Walked my little dog in the Chiltern Hills while listening to Bobby Friction spin tunes on BBC6, then he interviewed my lovely colleague Dalbir “Tabla Jedi” Rattan. What a surprise!
My dad working on the Michael Craig-Martin jigsaw puzzle I got him @royalacademy.bsky.social
August 3, 2025 at 6:41 PM
My dad working on the Michael Craig-Martin jigsaw puzzle I got him @royalacademy.bsky.social
Buddhist relics from Piprahwa valued at £9.7 million returned to India. Purchased by the Arojsha Godrej Foundation for an undisclosed sum after Dr Naman Ahuja’s dedicated campaign. WC Peppe took them from India in 1898, placed on sale by his great-grandson in 2025.
www.thetimes.com/article/1f95...
www.thetimes.com/article/1f95...
August 1, 2025 at 1:37 PM
Buddhist relics from Piprahwa valued at £9.7 million returned to India. Purchased by the Arojsha Godrej Foundation for an undisclosed sum after Dr Naman Ahuja’s dedicated campaign. WC Peppe took them from India in 1898, placed on sale by his great-grandson in 2025.
www.thetimes.com/article/1f95...
www.thetimes.com/article/1f95...
Coast Salish house boards decorated with carnivorous mammals c.1890. Cultural objects were “collected” in the 1950s by Canada’s Dept of Indian Affairs after decades of suppressing indigenous people & distributed to museums to “preserve” a “dying” culture. www.ictinc.ca/blog/canadas...
July 31, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Coast Salish house boards decorated with carnivorous mammals c.1890. Cultural objects were “collected” in the 1950s by Canada’s Dept of Indian Affairs after decades of suppressing indigenous people & distributed to museums to “preserve” a “dying” culture. www.ictinc.ca/blog/canadas...