Lot Essay
This drawing was originally in the collection of Sir Elijah and Lady Impey. Lady Impey was one of the first Anglo-Indian patrons of natural history painting. Due to her fascination with Indian flora and fauna, she amassed a large collection of live animals and birds in her house in Middleton Row, Calcutta. From 1777 onwards she employed three Indian artists to depict her collection: Shaikh Zayn al-Din, Bhawani Das and Ram Das. These artists are described as natives of Patna, an important Mughal city in eastern India. Between them they created more than 300 paintings from 1774 to 1782 the years during which Sir Elijah was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Bengal. Many of the painting were inscribed in English and Persian probably by one of Impey's clerks, and many were stamped on the reverse with Sir Elijah Impey's seal.