Three botanical watercolours, India, Company School, late eighteenth century

pencil, pen and ink, watercolour on paper, each numbered in Arabic numerals and inscribed in Urdu in black nasta'liq script at upper left; further bearing a Latin identification inscription in pencil at upper left, along upper edge and at upper right
41.8 by 27.5cm.
(3)

Condition Report:
Completely laid down on mount, very minor losses and tears to corners and edges, minor creasing, slight rubbing to pencil inscription, some areas of staining and discolouration, a few scattered foxing marks, some rubbing and very minor losses to pigments but overall pigment colours are strong, as viewed.

Catalogue Note:
The three illustrations depict plants of Arum (Wake Robin or Cuckoo pent?); Cotton (Bombax); and Water Lily (Nympha). The works date to the late eighteenth century on paper watermarked either Portal & Bridges or GR (Georgius Rex). They are characterised by their scientific nature and are inscribed with their Latin name along with the common name in Urdu and an Arabic number. They follow the system of classification of Carl Linnaeus, a Swedish naturalist and explorer who, in 1735, devised a uniform structure for the naming and classification of plants and animals. Such academic rigour was a reflection of the period which saw strong interest from both professionals and private amateurs in the field, notably from those living in India.

These watercolour studies originally formed part of a larger group of one hundred and eighteen paintings, from an album commissioned by Rear Admiral George Byng, 6th Viscount Torrington (1768-1831) who served in the East Indies as Naval Commander from 1781-1814. The album of watercolours mainly comprised less commonly portrayed medicinal plants from Northern India. George Byng was known for his avid interest in medicine and the practical use of medicinal plants and was later elected as a Fellow to The Royal Society. He is recorded as receiving a gift of a thousand guineas from the East India Company in 1811 for successfully escorting and returning a convoy of merchant ships which had suffered an outbreak of scurvy. He is reported to have successfully treated the crew using the medicinal plants he was so diligent in recording.

Two further illustrations from this series formerly in the Carlton Rochell collection, sold in these Rooms, 27 October 2021, lot 25.

Provenance:
Viscount Torrington, perhaps George Byng, 6th Viscount Torrington (1768-1831), acquired circa 1815 or earlier

Bonhams, London, 25 October 2007, lot 433