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Dr Jennifer Howes

@jhowesuk.bsky.social
1.3K followers 444 following 360 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

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Dr Jennifer Howes @jhowesuk.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Identical sculptures of Robert Clive by John Tweed, early 20th Century. One is beside the old India Office in London and the other is in the Victoria Memorial Hall, Kolkata. A century later, how are they viewed? (1/2)
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Dr Jennifer Howes @jhowesuk.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Publication day for my article on contested statues of Robert Clive in London & Calcutta, Co-written with Jayanta Sengupta. This pic shows a plywood mock-up of the London statue, 1916. www.bloomsbury.com/uk/contested...
Plywood cut-out of a statue, 1916. The tall plinth it stands on is made of wood and canvas. Photo from British Library, Curzon Manuscripts.
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Dr Jennifer Howes @jhowesuk.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
It's the summer of tittering, it would seem—and we know who 'titterers' are: people who take blood sports seriously, because they don't take anyone's life seriously enough willself1.substack.com/p/2089334077...
willself1.substack.com
Jason Arday: J'Accuse the British Media
After the death of Jason Arday, Will Self asks what happens when the media machine mistakes what interests the public for the public interest.
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Dr Jennifer Howes @jhowesuk.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
I’ve been awarded the London Topographical Society’s Ann Saunders Essay Prize for 2026. My essay on London’s East India House will be published by them next year. Here’s a picture from the essay, showing Charles Fox carrying East India House on his shoulders. londontopsoc.org/about-us/ann...
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Dr Jennifer Howes @jhowesuk.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
theartimp.substack.com/p/who-is-the...
theartimp.substack.com
Who is The Art Imp?
Do you like my profile picture? It looks nothing like me.
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Dr Jennifer Howes @jhowesuk.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Robert Clive meeting Jeff Bezos. Doesn’t Clive look handy! What would you call that deformed third set of digits? A clawed hand or a CLAUDE hand? @empirepoduk.bsky.social
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Dr Jennifer Howes @jhowesuk.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
Please tell me about your favourite imperialist artwork/monument in London
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Dr Jennifer Howes @jhowesuk.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
The importance of understanding colonial history… “Due to limitations in our professional knowledge, we were unable to identify potential controversies” www.ft.com/content/8243...
ft.com
Lululemon apologises after Japanese drum controversy at Great Wall yoga event
Canadian athleisure company says it ‘should have been more cautious and thorough’
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Dr Jennifer Howes @jhowesuk.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
Churchill deliberately starved Indians, says National Portrait Gallery www.thetimes.com/article/5957...
thetimes.com
Churchill deliberately starved Indians, says National Portrait Gallery
A 40-minute video installation by Helen Cammock criticises a number of British historical figures including the former prime minister
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Dr Jennifer Howes @jhowesuk.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
JUST PUBLISHED! Special issue of the South Asian Studies (Vol.42.1) on "South Asian Collections in European Museums", edited by myself and Dr Shreya Gupta of the V&A. There's some amazing stuff in here. Have a look. www.tandfonline.com/toc/rsas20/4...
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Dr Jennifer Howes @jhowesuk.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
Unique, fully funded opportunity for archivists and library professionals from South & Southeast Asia. Deadline: 13 June 2026. drive.google.com/file/d/1a3mV...
drive.google.com
Regional Course 2026_Announcement_EN.docx.pdf
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Dr Jennifer Howes @jhowesuk.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
Welcome to Ammachi Universe! This guy makes videos of his gran in Kerala being helped by Marvel superheroes. I approve of this use of AI. youtu.be/nSYRY6jyaXI
youtu.be
Welcome To Ammachi Universe | Full Part |
YouTube video by SAAppAi
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Dr Jennifer Howes @jhowesuk.bsky.social · 17/05/2026
Leiden University has agreed to return this remarkable Chola copper plate manuscript to India. It was taken in the 17th Century by the Dutch East India Company (VOC). www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/news/2026...
Photo taken at Leiden in 2019 of the large 11th Century bronze seal of Rajendra Chola I. It is attached to a ring that holds together 22 inscribed copper plates. The 22 copper plates and bronze ring that compose the manuscript (Leiden University, Or.1687)
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Dr Jennifer Howes @jhowesuk.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
Over 2000 Jain manuscripts in Wellcome Trust’s London archives are being returned to India www.thetimes.com/article/7fa1...
thetimes.com
Wellcome Trust returns ancient Jain texts in colonialist’s archive
The collection has agreed to transfer 2,000 sacred manuscripts, which were under-sold by a temple in Punjab to a British pharmaceutical entrepreneur
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Dr Jennifer Howes @jhowesuk.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
I made a substack! Please read. open.substack.com/pub/theartim...
open.substack.com
Blind Patriotism in London
The Banksy statue in Waterloo Place and the contested sculpture of Robert Clive just down the road.
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Dr Jennifer Howes @jhowesuk.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
Clive statue (John Tweed, 1912) and Man Blinded by Flag & Walking off Plinth (Banksy, 2026) are a short walk away from each other, in the most potent, sculpture-studded part of London.
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Dr Jennifer Howes @jhowesuk.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
Wicked positioning! At the opposite end of Horse Guards Road is the Clive statue in front of the UK Foreign Office www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Banksy confirms he is behind new statue in central London
The sculpture in central London of a man walking off a plinth while holding a flag has been drawing crowds.
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Reposted by Dr Jennifer Howes
Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
But we're still not posting our new Open Access requirements on our website (last update 24 May 2023: www.ukri.org/publications... ). For those, you'll need to be on LinkedIn. Open, innit? Not having a go at hard-pressed UKRI staff, but as open access strategy, this is both dire and unacceptable.
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Dr Jennifer Howes @jhowesuk.bsky.social · 25/04/2026
Bronze “Dancing Shiva” sculptures often feature in museums. This article by Edmond de Taillac shows how they got there. “The Last Dance of Śiva: Local Supply Networks, Colonial Collecting, and the Making of ‘Indian Art’ in Early Twentieth-Century South India” www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
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Dr Jennifer Howes @jhowesuk.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
Why has Sanchi Stupa’s east gate been replicated in Germany? All revealed in this illustrated, OA article by Parul Singh and Shraddha Bhatawadekar Full article: (Re)creating the Authentic: Reproductions of the Sanchi Gateway in Berlin Museums www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
tandfonline.com
(Re)creating the Authentic: Reproductions of the Sanchi Gateway in Berlin Museums
The first casts of the Sanchi Stupa gateway in India were made in the nineteenth century under colonial regime and collected by various museums in Europe, including Berlin. While these casts were s...
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Dr Jennifer Howes @jhowesuk.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
Now on BBC Radio Six, Professor Emeritus @racheldwyer.bsky.social is talking about Bollywood cinema!!
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Reposted by Dr Jennifer Howes
Birmingham 81 @birmingham81.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
RIP Asha Bhosle ▶️ youtu.be/Irv2cnM_63Y
youtu.be
Asha Bhosle Live 'In Aankhon Ki Masti' at BBC Studio
YouTube video by Prateek Luthra
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Dr Jennifer Howes @jhowesuk.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
First Nations Mayflower hero was sold into slavery, files in Malaga Archives reveal www.thetimes.com/article/1306...
thetimes.com
Mayflower hero was secretly sold into slavery, hidden files reveal
Crumbling documents discovered in a Malaga archive expose how an English merchant used a legal fiction to sell Squanto and other indigenous captives in 1614
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Dr Jennifer Howes @jhowesuk.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
Oh good, they found some fuel. Artemis II crew blast into orbit with historic moon launch www.thetimes.com/article/0a36...
thetimes.com
Artemis II crew blast into orbit with historic moon launch
Four astronauts buckle in for a journey to space that will take them to parts of the moon never seen before — and could help chart a future to Mars
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Dr Jennifer Howes @jhowesuk.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
Pleased to be sharing this open access article, authored by Radha Kapuria (Durham), Shweta Sachdeva Jha (Delhi) and myself. It's the intro for a JRAS volume we co-edited on "The Travelling Female Performer in South Asia". www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Three dancing girls on a terrace accompanied by five musicians. Behind them is a marble pavilion draped with textiles. Women sit watching the performers on either side. By a Delhi artist, c.1838. The drawing is inscribed, "A Nautch at Col. Skinner's given to me by himself 1838." British Library, Add.Or.2598.
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Dr Jennifer Howes @jhowesuk.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
Exhibition at Kensington palace on the daughters of Duleep Singh, the Maharaja of the Sikh Empire. Last princess of Punjab who saved families from the Holocaust www.thetimes.com/article/e6d7...
thetimes.com
Last princess of Punjab who saved families from the Holocaust
Catherine Duleep Singh helped people flee Nazi Germany. She and her sisters, including a prominent suffragette, are the subject of a Kensington Palace exhibition
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Dr Jennifer Howes @jhowesuk.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
Museum of London Docklands shrouds portrait of slave trader Beeston Long to ‘reclaim Caribbean history’ www.thetimes.com/article/4d3e...
thetimes.com
Museum shrouds slave trader portrait to ‘reclaim Caribbean history’
London Museum Docklands partially concealed the portrait of Beeston Long, a former governor of the Bank of England, as part of its exhibition
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Dr Jennifer Howes @jhowesuk.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
“From Madras to London: East India Company artworks in the 18th century.” My lecture, hosted by the Tamil Heritage Trust… www.youtube.com/live/LzVhkb5...
youtube.com
DrJennifer Howes. "Madras to London: East India Company Artworks in the 18th Century". Mar 7, 2026
YouTube video by Tamil Heritage Trust
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Dr Jennifer Howes @jhowesuk.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
For a limited time, you can download a free e-copy of my article, "Decolonising the Rescue Archive: Antiquarian usage of Amaravati sculptures in the British Museum". The article will be published in South Asian Studies journal later this year. Link on my website's homepage www.jenniferhowes.com
An ancient Buddhist sculpture from Amaravati showing a horse walking through a gateway. The sculpture became part of the British Museum's collections in 1880. Before that, it was used in the construction of a marketplace monument at Machilipatna, sent to the Madras Government Museum, and shipped to the India Museum in London.
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Dr Jennifer Howes @jhowesuk.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
Happy Holi! Painting by an artist from Vellore, 1820s. @britishlibrary.bsky.social Add.Or.66, full page and detail showing women.
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Dr Jennifer Howes @jhowesuk.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
I’m giving an on-line lecture on Saturday March 7th about East India Company artworks! Joining instructions below.
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Dr Jennifer Howes @jhowesuk.bsky.social · 22/02/2026
Great article on “Decolonising Western Museums” by Ganga Rajnee Dissanayaka www.themorning.lk/articles/QjO...
themorning.lk
Decolonising Western museums
Last year, I attended a major conference on museums in Europe. Decolonisation was the big topic, and every session had debates about repatriation, provenance research
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Dr Jennifer Howes @jhowesuk.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
My new article on Buddhist sculpture from Amaravati has now been published on-line! It will appear in print later this summer, in a special journal issue on “South Asian Collections in European Museums”. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
tandfonline.com
Decolonising the Rescue Narrative: Antiquarian Usage of Amaravati Sculptures in the British Museum
Amaravati Stupa was the first Buddhist site in India to be systematically excavated by the British. Its first colonial excavation in 1816–17 led to 51 sculptures being removed from the site by amat...
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Reposted by Dr Jennifer Howes
Kate Ozment @grubstreetwomen.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
I don't think it is only our job to teach students how to read long novels; it may also be our jobs to teach them how to live without an online surveillance state. To learn without intrusive apps. To swap notes. To write in a book's margins. To exist in their communities in slow, clunky, human ways.
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Dr Jennifer Howes @jhowesuk.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
Late 18th Century painting of a royal hunting scene in the planes of Golconda, led by Nizam Ali Khan of Hyderabad. In the painting's top right hand corner, the famous female poet and performer, Mah Laqa Bai Chanda, observes the scene from her palanquin. g.co/arts/E8r3oEH...
g.co
Nizam II on a Hunting Expedition - Rai Venkatachallam - Google Arts & Culture
Framed painting in Deccani style with Rai Venkatachallam, the court artist, also the painter of this scene. A royal procession of Asaf Jahi ruler Nizam Ali...
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Dr Jennifer Howes @jhowesuk.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
Delhi Rajpath, 1990s and 2026.
I took this photo of Rajpath, New Delhi, in 1997. It is digitised from a 35 mm slide. I took this photo or Rajpath, New Delhi, on Tuesday 27 January 2026 (the day after Republic Day) with my phone.
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Dr Jennifer Howes @jhowesuk.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
In Kolkata, before Republic Day, Queen Victoria has a bath whether she needs it or not.
Bronze statue of Queen Victoria by George Frampton. Completed in 1901, installed in the gardens in front of Kolkata’s Victoria Memorial Hall. Bronze statue of Queen Victoria by George Frampton. Completed in 1901, installed in the gardens in front of Kolkata’s Victoria Memorial Hall.
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Dr Jennifer Howes @jhowesuk.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
This marble statue of Robert Clive, the notorious East India Company soldier and crook, has become a favourite place to take photos in the Victoria Memorial Hall Kolkata.
Statue of Robert Clive by John Tweed, in the Victoria Memorial Hall, Kolkata. Sculpted in London along with an identical bronze statue of Clive that was installed on the “Clive Steps” in Whitehall, next to the old India Office building. Statue of Robert Clive by John Tweed, in the Victoria Memorial Hall, Kolkata. Sculpted in London along with an identical bronze statue of Clive that was installed on the “Clive Steps” in Whitehall, next to the old India Office building.
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Dr Jennifer Howes @jhowesuk.bsky.social · 18/01/2026
Intermission, Raj Mandir Cinema, Jaipur
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Dr Jennifer Howes @jhowesuk.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
Rajasthani puppets moving in procession over a sea of people, Jaipur Lit Fest 2026.
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Dr Jennifer Howes @jhowesuk.bsky.social · 04/01/2026
Bye-bye, 2025!
“Sleep Over”. Gilbert & George dressed in matching tweed suits, sleeping on a bed of bones. Great shoes.
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Dr Jennifer Howes @jhowesuk.bsky.social · 25/12/2025
Merry Christmas!!!
A little pug with a pint of lager in a traditional English pub.
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Dr Jennifer Howes @jhowesuk.bsky.social · 22/12/2025
‘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...
economist.com
Canada’s first Christmas without the Hudson’s Bay Company
From fur-trading outpost to department-store giant, founding a country along the way
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Dr Jennifer Howes @jhowesuk.bsky.social · 22/12/2025
‘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...
thetimes.com
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
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Dr Jennifer Howes @jhowesuk.bsky.social · 03/12/2025
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.
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Dr Jennifer Howes @jhowesuk.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
Dharmendra, you had a great run!! 💔 youtu.be/qRdoJJb_rrU?...
youtu.be
Yeh Dosti Hum Nahi Todenge | Sholay | Amitabh Bachchan | Dharmendra | Kishore Kumar Hit Songs
YouTube video by Koffee With FilmiGaane
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Dr Jennifer Howes @jhowesuk.bsky.social · 23/11/2025
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.
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Reposted by Dr Jennifer Howes
Bernard Quaritch Ltd @quaritch1847.bsky.social · 31/10/2025
🎃 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.
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Dr Jennifer Howes @jhowesuk.bsky.social · 25/10/2025
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?...
youtu.be
President Reagan's Radio Address on Free and Fair Trade on April 25, 1987
YouTube video by Reagan Library
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