Two Jeyties

Gangaram Chintaman Navgire Tambat, active 1790s

between 1790 and 1796

Watercolor and graphite on medium, slightly textured, cream laid paper

Yale Center for British Art

Two figures are depicted balancing on wooden posts. The figure on the left is seated with legs crossed, while the figure on the right is inverted, balancing on their head. Gangaram Tambat drew a series of watercolors of men exercising in the neighborhood where athletes trained in Poona. His Marathi inscriptions refer to the men as warriors preparing for contests through exercises that blended boxing and wrestling. His pared-down images focus on discrete moves and muscles, brightened only by the orange hue of the men’s clothes and the packed dirt on which they spar. Gangaram may have been inspired by the Maratha court’s invitation to Malet to see “an exhibition of Pugilists and Wrestlers” the previous year. The activities likely struck Malet as relevant to military training, but Gangaram’s access to th