Lucy Kauser

Lucy Kauser’s research examines the architecture of the princely states in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century South Asia, focusing on Gwalior and the Scindia court. Her PhD explores how Indian princely patrons used different architectural traditions to negotiate changing political and cultural identities under colonial rule.

Lucy completed her BA in History of Art and Archaeology at SOAS in 2013 and her MA in History of Art at UCL in 2014. She has worked in museums since 2009, including in Collections Research at Tate (2014–15) and at the H. H. Maharaja Sir Jiwajirao Scindia Museum in Gwalior, India (2015–18). She is currently Collections Officer at the SOAS Gallery and Senior Teaching Fellow on the SOAS Alphawood Asian Art Programme.

Lucy’s research focuses on the architecture and visual culture of the Indian princely states, particularly during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Her PhD examines the changing architectural landscape of Gwalior under the Scindias, exploring how princely patrons drew upon Indian, European and Indo-Saracenic architectural traditions.
Taking Gwalior as its principal case study, the project considers architecture not simply as a product of European influence or colonial encounter, but as an active form of princely state-building and self-representation. It examines how the Scindias negotiated their changing relationship with the British colonial state while constructing their own dynastic and political identities through architecture.

The research traces the development of Scindia court architecture from earlier Maratha traditions through nineteenth-century Neoclassicism and later Indo-Saracenic forms. Key sites include Jai Vilas Palace, Phul Bagh and Moti Mahal, considered within the wider architectural and urban development of Gwalior and in relation to princely architecture elsewhere in South Asia.