Europeans arriving in India during the 18th century, were fascinated by their new environment. The British wanted their visual experiences to be recorded in paintings and sketches, and found that the subjects that interested them could be depicted far more accurately by Indian than British artists.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, the British employed Indian artists to illustrate the manners and customs of India and to record scenes of monuments, deities, festivals, and occupations. These works later became known as 'Company paintings' because they were created by Indian artists employed by members of the British East India Company.

Indians who worked for the British were also depicted in Company paintings. These images serve as representations of ordinary people in India and show how they would have appeared during the 18th and 19th centuries. They also give a sense of the body language, clothing, ornaments, and hairstyles that were associated with various occupations, such as ayahs, lascars and soldiers, of the Indians who first came to work in England.

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