Obituary of William George Archer, OBE
William George Archer (1907–79) was a sensitive interpreter of tribal life and customs during his formative career in the Indian Civil Service. In 1949 he was appointed Keeper of the India Section of the Victoria & Albert Museum, where he achieved an international reputation as an authority on Indian painting.
From The Times, 19 November 1979
Dr William George Archer, OBE, died on March 6, aged 72. A sensitive interpreter of tribal life and customs during his formative career in the Indian Civil Service, he was subsequently appointed Keeper of the India Section of the Victoria and Albert Museum where he achieved an international reputation as an authority on Indian painting.
Archer was born on February 11, 1907 and educated at Strand School Brixton and Emmanuel College, Cambridge where he read history. An early love of poetry and primitive and modern art remained throughout his life and, after passing the ICS examination in 1930, his posting to Bihar in the following year confronted him with the poetry and art of rural India. Official tours in various districts of Bihar and Orissa Province as Sub-Divisional Officer, District Magistrate and Superintendent of Census Operations invariably led him to the discovery, collection and documentation of tribal and peasant art.
His first book, 'The Blue Grove' (1940) was a study of the folk songs of the Uraons, an aboriginal tribe living in the Ranchi District. It was followed by a study of Ahir sculptures, a book of his own poems, 'The Plains of the Sun', (1948) and a second book of Uraon poetry. His important work on the Santals, 'The Hill of Flutes', was not published until 1974.
On returning from India after his last posting as Additional Deputy Commissioner in the Naga Hills from 1946-48, he was appointed Keeper of the India Section of the V&A in 1949 and became Keeper Emeritus ten years later.
Archer was awarded the OBE in 1947, honorary doctorates from two Indian universities and the Burton Memorial Medal of the Royal Asiatic Society. His enthusiasm for India was shared after their marriage in 1934 by his wife, Dr Mildred Archer, who collaborated with him as an author and is a highly respected scholar in her own right. She survives him with a son and a daughter.
Reproduced with kind permission of The Times
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