Archer, Mildred (Agnes) 1911-2005

OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for CA sketch: Born December 28, 1911, in London, England; died February 4, 2005, in Cleeve, Somerset, England. Art historian and author. Archer was a recognized authority on the art of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century India during the British Raj. Her interest in this subject was the result of her marriage to a British civil servant, William Archer, who enjoyed a long career in India. After her graduation from St. Hilda's College, Oxford, in 1934, they married and moved to India, where her husband held a variety of posts throughout the country. Archer became fascinated by the history and art of India, and met many talented artists personally. She became interested in artworks painted during the Raj because they revealed a great deal about the social history of India that had not otherwise been recorded. Returning to England, she worked as a secretary at Oxford University from 1949 to 1954. Her experience next led to her being placed in charge of the department of prints and drawings at the India Office Library and Records, a post she held until she retired in 1980. Archer produced numerous books about India and its art over a period of six decades. Among her publications are Patna Painting (1947), Natural History Drawings in the India Office Library (1962), Company Drawings in the India Office Library (1972), India and British Portraiture, 1770-1825 (1979), The India Office Collection of Paintings and Sculpture (1986), the co-written Company Paintings: Indian Paintings of the British Period (1992), and, with her husband, India Served and Observed (1994).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Guardian (London, England), February 17, 2005, p. 27.

Independent (London, England), February 16, 2005, p. 35.

Times (London, England), March 4, 2005, p. 76.