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Lot Essay
In 1819, William recounted in a letter to his father that he had just sent James forty paintings, which he hoped his brother would then send back to their home in Scotland. He looked forward to the nostalgia he would feel when ‘some years hence I shall con them at Moniack, with recollections that never can leave my heart’ (Archer and Falk 1989, p.40). On receiving the portraits, James was effusive in his praise. On 30 October 1820, he sent his father a letter saying that ‘the native Drawings of Costume will form unquestionably the finest collection that ever visited England from hence & include all the inhabitants of all the districts near Dihlee’ (Archer and Falk 1989, p.40). Unfortunately, William would never see the paintings again, or experience the pleasure of peaceful recollection in Scotland. He died in India at the hands of an assassin in 1835. James, however, doubtless derived hours of enjoyment from them in his later years, the paintings reconnecting him with his lost brother and the time they spent experiencing the dazzling and varied sights of late Mughal India.
The Fraser album was rediscovered in 1979, along with the family papers. Archer and Falk write that at that stage about half were mounted in an album, the others loose. They describe each picture as being painted on stout paper, most with a cover paper of thin paper - a few pictures with two cover-papers. Many of the paintings in the first London sale (Sotheby’s London, 7 July 1980), including the Storyteller and Musicians offered here (lot 40) were loose pictures. At the New York auction later that year (Sotheby’s New York, 9 December 1980), the contents that had been mounted in the album were sold. These were all loosely mounted on grey paper sheets. Descriptions by Edward Satchwell Fraser, William's younger brother – based on the information supplied by William’s inscriptions – are found on the plain paper inter-leaves. Edward numbered his descriptions in the order that the paintings appeared in the album so we know where these lots featured in the sequence. It seems that lots 39, 41, 42, 43, 44 and 45 from the present sale were all included. Many of the paintings in the album were also numbered by William. His inscriptions are written in pencil, usually on the cover-paper. The information he gives is frequently derived from the Persian inscriptions, that were originally done in pencil on the backs of the works but later re-inked (Archer and Falk 1989, p.137).
The Fraser album was rediscovered in 1979, along with the family papers. Archer and Falk write that at that stage about half were mounted in an album, the others loose. They describe each picture as being painted on stout paper, most with a cover paper of thin paper - a few pictures with two cover-papers. Many of the paintings in the first London sale (Sotheby’s London, 7 July 1980), including the Storyteller and Musicians offered here (lot 40) were loose pictures. At the New York auction later that year (Sotheby’s New York, 9 December 1980), the contents that had been mounted in the album were sold. These were all loosely mounted on grey paper sheets. Descriptions by Edward Satchwell Fraser, William's younger brother – based on the information supplied by William’s inscriptions – are found on the plain paper inter-leaves. Edward numbered his descriptions in the order that the paintings appeared in the album so we know where these lots featured in the sequence. It seems that lots 39, 41, 42, 43, 44 and 45 from the present sale were all included. Many of the paintings in the album were also numbered by William. His inscriptions are written in pencil, usually on the cover-paper. The information he gives is frequently derived from the Persian inscriptions, that were originally done in pencil on the backs of the works but later re-inked (Archer and Falk 1989, p.137).