SIGNED VARDAPARAO, TAMIL NADU, SOUTH INDIA, DATED 24 AVANI, SADHARANA YEAR/9 SEPTEMBER 1850 AD

Details

AN ILLUSTRATED STUDY OF PONDICHERRY AND FRENCH INDIA
SIGNED VARDAPARAO, TAMIL NADU, SOUTH INDIA, DATED 24 AVANI, SADHARANA YEAR/9 SEPTEMBER 1850 AD
Gouache on paper, comprising 72 illustrations of professions, religious processions, important monuments, agricultural methods and daily life, the illustrations set in black rules with Tamil and French identifying inscriptions below each illustration, the opening with dedication to the artist and dated sadharana varudam 24 aavani madtham, masasiya paluvu eluthinathu, set in a card binding with silk cover
Illustrations 6¾ x 11 5/8in. (17 x 29.2cm.); folio 8 3/8 x 13¼in. (21.2 x 33.4cm.)

Provenance

Purchaed at Maggs Bros, London, 1981 Thence by decent to present owner Theon Charles Wilkinson, MBE

Engraved

Dessiné par le mouchi Vardaparao le 24 du mois d'aveni de l'année indienne sadiina., 'Drawn by the Munshi Vardaparao on the 24th of the Month of Avani in the Indian (Tamil) year of Sadharana(?) [circa 1850]'

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Sara Plumbly

splumbly@christies.com +44 (0)20 7389 2372

Lot Essay

It is rare to find a South Indian illustrated and dated manuscript with both French and Tamil captions. A similarly dated album with French captions is attributed by Dallapiccola to Pondicherry (A.L. Dallapiccola, South Indian Paintings: A Catalogue of the British Museum Collection, London, 2010, Cat. 9, pp.128-147).

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