Company School Watercolor from the Wolff Collection

[Company School].
[Melon, Cocoa, and Exotic Fruits, with Insect and Quail].
Watercolor on paper. c. 1820.
15 1/2" x 18 1/2" sheet. 20 1/8" x 24 7/8" framed.

The finest Company School compositions that exist, A compelling choice of flora and fauna of India.The Benjamin Wolff Collection is an important contribution to the history of Indian painting. Among the academic highlights of the collection are the numerous drawings and watercolors produced out of the patronÂ’s wish to capture the encounter with exotic people, unusual flora and fauna, picturesque views, and ancient monuments. As with earlier patrons, Indian artists would sometimes be commissioned to produce specific works; more frequently, however, the latter, led by the expanding market for their work, initiated the content themselves and would produce standard sets of paintings which they felt confident would appeal to new patrons. As a result, artist families in places such as Murshidabad, Patna, Calcutta, Benares, and Lucknow, all produced paintings of subjects of local interest in distinctive local styles, offering them around British stations or selling them to travelers at well-known halting places along rivers.