This and the following lot have borders in identical style to leaves from albums made for and commissioned by Antoine Polier in the second half of the 18th century (now known as the Hamilton Albums in the collection of the State Museum of Berlin). The leaves are also of similar size (40/40.5 x 28/28.5 cm. being the commonest size of the Hamilton Albums) and it can be assumed they were produced at the same time and by the same atelier as the Hamilton Albums.
Polier (1736-95) worked in Lucknow from 1766 until 1789, when he returned to France, and it was during this time that he commissioned much of his collection. The albums now in Berlin were acquired by William Beckford of Fonthill Abbey, Wiltshire before going to Hamilton and then to Berlin. It would thus seem unlikely that the present two leaves are from the albums acquired by Beckford, but it is possible they were dispersed from Polier's collection in India before the albums came to England, maybe as a gift. Equally possible is that they come from an album produced for a collector contemporary with Polier: in an eighteenth century portrait by Zoffany, Polier is shown looking at paintings with several connoisseur friends while an album lies open on the table (Archer, M.: India and British Portraiture 1770-1825, London 1979, Pl.VII).
See also: Hickman & Enderlein: Indische Albumblatte, Leipzig 1979, eg nos 24, 49 and Weber R.: Portrats und historische Dastellungen, Berlin 1982, nos 72-92.