Mica is a transparent mineral composed of complex mixtures of potassium silicates. The variety of mica used most frequently by these Indian artists is Muscovite (H2KA13 Si04)3 which is found widely throughout south India. The mica is formed between strata of granite and the transparency of the material is a result of the heat and pressure created between the layers of rock during formation. Mica consists of many interlocking platelets, resulting in a laminar structure which can be split easily into thin sheets.

‘Company painting’ is a broad term for a variety of hybrid styles that developed as a result of the European (especially British) influence on Indian artists from the early 18th to the 19th centuries. It evolved as a way of providing paintings that would appeal to European patrons who found the purely indigenous styles not to their taste. As many of these patrons worked for the various East India companies, the painting style came to be associated with the name, although it was in fact also used for paintings produced for local rulers and other Indian patrons. The subject matter of company paintings made for western patrons was often documentary rather then imaginative, and as a consequence, the Indian artists were required to adopt a more naturalistic approach to painting than had traditionally been usual. Europeans commissioned sets of images depicting festivals and scenes from Indian life or albums illustrating the various castes and occupations, as well as the architecture plants and animals of the sub-continent.