Untitled (Double Sided work of A Steward of the Bombay Gymkhana Club along with Sketch of ‘Marion Taylor’

Front
Anonymous
Untitled (A Steward of the Bombay Gymkhana Club)
Pencil on paper
Circa 1880–1900
Inscribed lower right “The Steward, Bombay Gymkhana Club”
9.5 x 6.75 in (24 x 17 cm)

Reverse
Anonymous
Untitled (Marion Taylor)
Pen and ink on paper
Circa 1880–1900
Inscribed lower left “Marion Taylor”
9.5 x 6.75 in (24 x 17 cm)

This is a double-sided work.

CLUB & COSTUME: MARION TAYLOR’S DUAL PORTRAIT SHEET

This rare double-sided drawing — comprising The Steward, Bombay Gymkhana Club on the front and Marion Taylor on the back — is an evocative relic of late colonial Bombay’s club and social culture. Executed in graphite and pen respectively, the two studies reveal the observational precision of an artist familiar with both European caricature and Anglo-Indian society’s urban milieu in the closing decades of the 19th century.

The front presents a sharply characterised portrait of a steward at the Bombay Gymkhana Club formally dressed in waistcoat and coat, standing in profile with a composed yet weary bearing — his upright posture and slightly protruding belly reflecting both discipline and the languor of habitual service. He appears to be slightly uninterested, bored with routine, but still standing upright in his suited coat, he epitomises the bureaucratic stewards and attendants of colonial-era Bombay’s clubs. The studied restraint of the pencil line gives the work an intimacy characteristic of on-site observation, likely sketched in situ as part of a sketchbook.

On the back, a pen-and-ink study of a seated lady, inscribed “Marion Taylor”, introduces a striking contrast in both subject and technique. Dressed in ornate Victorian attire with a feathered hat and detailed bodice, she embodies the cosmopolitan social world of the Raj-era theatre or club scene — perhaps a performer or patron. It's a complementary glimpse into the same era’s High Victorian sartorial codes, reflecting a continuity of cosmopolitan influences between London and Bombay.

The juxtaposition of the two drawings on a single sheet suggests a travelling artist’s sketchbook page used at different times and places, both unified by their focus on human character and costume.

The Bombay Gymkhana Club, one of the oldest social institutions in the city, was completed in 1875 in a distinctive Swiss chalet style by architect John Adams for British gentlemen of the Presidency and played a pivotal role in the city’s sporting and social history. It hosted India’s first-ever Test cricket match in 1933 and remains a heritage structure recognised by the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai.

This drawing thus connects the visual and social memory of colonial Bombay’s elite institutions with the human figures who animated them—the club staff, performers, and patrons who populated its daily life.

This work will be shipped framed

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