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Pre 1897 thumbnails
COOCH BEHAR, MAHARANI OF
Neg. No: 3305A
Neg. Size: 15"x12"
Neg. Date: None

copyright V&A

Sitter: Maharani Siniti Devi, CI (18.3.1887) (b. at Sens House, Calcutta, 1864; d. at Ranchi, 10th November 1932), sometime Regent of Cooch-Behar and President of the State Council, eldest daughter of Babu Keshab Chandra Sen. Married 5 March 1878 Colonel Maharaja Shri Sir Nripendra Narayan Bhup Bahadur, Maharaja of Cooch Behar. (Biographical information provided by Christopher J Buyers , The Royal Ark http://www.dreamwater.net/regiment/
RoyalArk/royalark.htm
)

Maharani Siniti Devi, CI (18.3.1887) (b. at Sens House, Calcutta, 1864; d. at Ranchi, 10th November 1932), sometime Regent of Cooch-Behar and President of the State Council, eldest daughter of Babu Keshab Chandra Sen. Married 5 March 1878 Colonel H.H. Maharaja Shri Sir Nripendra Narayan Bhup Bahadur, Maharaja of Cooch Behar.

Biog: Daughter of Babu Keshub Chunder Sen, leader of the Brahmo Samaj; m (1878) Maharajah Sir Nripendra Narayan Bhup Bahadur of Cooch Behar.

Date: 1902.

Occasion: The Coronation of King Edward VII, 9 August 1902.

Location: The Lafayette Studio, 179, New Bond Street, London.

Descr: TQL standing.

Costume: Gown of white satin with 'Empire' wreath design embroidered in gold - worn at the Coronation ceremony.

Costume Supplier: Made by 'a French milliner'.

Orders, Decorations & Medals: Badge of the Imperial Order of the Crown of India, [C.I. cr. 18 March 1887]; Queen Victoria Jubilee Medal 1887, with 1897 bar.

Jewellery: -

Furniture & Props: Painted backdrop.

Photographer: Lafayette Ltd., 179 New Bond Street, London.

Evidence of photographer at work: -

All images of sitter:

Copyright: V&A

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Provenance: Pinewood Studios; acquired 1989.

References:

Biog: Who's Who in India, Lucknow, 1911, Part VIII, p 3; Sunity Devee, Maharani of Cooch Behar, The Autobiography of an Indian Princess, London, 1921; Gayatri Devi and Santha Rama Rau, A Princess Remembers: The Memoirs of the Maharani of Jaipur, London, 1984, p 40; Maharajah of Baroda, The Palaces of India, London, 1980.

Occasion: Sunity Devee, op cit, pp 169-174.

Costume: The Times, 11 August 1902, p 15d; The Gentlewoman, 16 August 1902, p 208a; Sunity Devee, op cit, p 173.

Costume Supplier: Sunity Devee, op cit, p 173.

Orders, Decorations & Medals: (Badge of the Crown of India), Burke's Peerage; Sunity Devee, op cit, p. 119-120. (Jubilee Medal) Howard N. Cole, Coronation and Royal Commemorative Medals 1887-1977, London, 1977, p 146; A.R. Litherland & B.T. Simpkin, Spinks Standard Catalogue of British and Associated Orders, Decorations & Medals, London, 1990; Biographical information provided by Christopher J Buyers , The Royal Ark http://www.dreamwater.net/regiment/RoyalArk/royalark.htm .

Jewellery: For tiara worn as necklace, see Gayatri Devi, op cit, photo. p 35.

Reproduced: -

Acknowledgements: (Biography) Christopher Buyers

1. NB Pauline Rohatgi, Portraits in the India Office Library and Records, London, 1983, p 277, refers to Sunita Devi.