An inexperienced palanquin rider, Tom Raw hiring a palanquin on the Esplanade, Calcutta

Details

Sir Charles D'Oyly, 7th Bt. (1781-1845)
An inexperienced palanquin rider, Tom Raw hiring a palanquin on the Esplanade, Calcutta
pencil, pen and brown ink and watercolour
6 5/8 x 8 7/8 in. (16.9 x 22.6 cm.)

Provenance

with Spink, London.
Anon. sale, Christie's, London, 25 May 1995, lot 212.

Literature

Joachim K. Bautze, Interaction of Cultures: Indian and Western Paintings 1780-1910, The Ehrenfeld Collection, Alexandria, Virginia, 1998, pp. 272-273, no. 69, illustrated in colour.

Special notice

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price plus buyer's premium.

Lot Essay

The present watercolour was intended as an illustration to the second canto of D'Oyly's satirical poem that describes the cadet, Tom Raw, as he made various blunders in Calcutta society. Here he is shown trying to climb into a palanquin on the esplanade in Calcutta with the gateway to Government House in the distance.
D'Oyly's popular watercolours not only provide us with a humorous view of the English in India but also offer a documentation of customs, furniture, architecture and etiquette etc., which enrich our understanding of Anglo-Indian life.

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