Portrait of a young boy on a bed, being attended by his ayah

An ayah was employed to look after the women and children of an Anglo-Indian household. Along with other servants, they often provided the only companionship for children. By the age of ten, most children were sent back home for schooling.
Thomas Hickey was one of the few British artists to reside in India more or less permanently. Between 1780, when Hickey first left England for India at the age of 39, and his death in India, aged 83 in 1824, only 11 years were spent outside the country, three of which were spent accompanying Lord Macartney's expedition to China as official portrait painter. While in India, Hickey painted other portraits of Europeans with their Indian servants.