Bhawani Das
Great Indian Fruit Bat, ca. 1777–82
Colonial British,
Pencil, ink, and opaque watercolor on paper; Painting: Ht. 23 1/2 in. (59.7 cm) W. 32 3/4 in. (83.2 cm) Mat size: Ht. 27 1/4 in. (69.2 cm) W. 35 1/2 in. (90.2 cm)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Purchase, Anonymous Gift, Cynthia Hazen Polsky Gift, Virginia G. LeCount Bequest, in memory of The LeCount Family, 2007 Benefit Fund, Louis V. Bell, Harris Brisbane Dick, Fletcher, and Rogers Funds and Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, and Gift of Dr. Mortimer D. Sackler, Theresa Sackler and Family, 2008 (2008.312)
http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/456949

The Great Indian Fruit Bat, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art actually points you down a set of stairs in the museum. Attributed to Bhawani Das, as described formally by the Met curators, its geography is Calcutta, India, it’s culture as Colonial British. The guy is made of pencil, ink,  and opaque watercolor on paper. “This watercolor belongs to the larger tradition of Company painting, or works made by Indian artists for English patrons (usually employees of the East India Company, hence the name of the school). Its anonymous artist is believed to have been in the circle of painters who worked for Sir Elijah Impey, Chief Justice of Bengal from 1774 to 1782, and his wife. They collected specimens of Indian flora and fauna at their estate in Calcutta and commissioned local artists to portray them. Although originally intended as a scientific record, the Impey natural studies are considered among the strongest achievements of the Company School.”