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    Sale 6169

    Visions of India

    London

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    5 October 1999

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    • Samuel Davis (1757-1819)
    Lot 33

    Samuel Davis (1757-1819)

    The Esplanade, Calcutta from the Chowringhee Road, with the Hooghly in the distance

    Price realised

    GBP 9,200

    Estimate

    GBP 8,000 - GBP 12,000

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    Samuel Davis (1757-1819)
    The Esplanade, Calcutta from the Chowringhee Road, with the Hooghly in the distance
    pencil and watercolour, unframed
    19 x 27 in. (48.3 x 69.9 cm.)

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    Lot Essay

    The present watercolour is thought to have been executed circa 1805 and can be compared to a watercolour in the Victoria Memorial Hall, Calcutta, also dated to 1805. The Victoria Memorial watercolour is cited by Jerry Losty as the earliest view of the city showing the new Government House and depicts the Esplanade from Fort William. The watercolour is thought to have been brought back to England by Davis as it was published in 1807 as an aquatint by Edward Orme (see J. Losty, Calcutta City of Palaces, London, 1990, pl. 12). The present watercolour is probably another version, executed around the same time and is therefore one of the earliest views of the new Government House.

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