拍品专文
An extremely rare and important large scale watercolour panorama, providing an impressively comprehensive and detailed record of the topography of Calcutta at the turn of the 18th century. It was painted by William Thomas Eden, the younger son of Sir Robert Eden, 1st Baronet (1741-1784), the last colonial Governor of Maryland, and Caroline Calvert, daughter of Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore. Eden married firstly Rose Hassel, by whom he had one son General William Hassel Eden (1800-1882), and secondly Ann Eden, by whom he had a daughter Mary Ann Eden (b. 1806). He is recorded as having died in Richmond, Surrey, but it is not known exactly when he returned to England from serving out in India.
The Eden family were fully immersed in British government, policy and administration, both at home and abroad in the British colonies. Eden’s uncle William Eden, 1st Baron Auckland (1744-1814) was an influential diplomat and politician who served in the House of Commons from 1774-1793, while his cousin George Eden, Earl of Auckland (1784-1849) was governor-general of India (1835-1842), accompanied by George’s sister, the artist Emily Eden (1797-1869).
The Panorama's skillful rendering of the complicated perspective view, suggests that Eden had received training in surveying and topographical drawing, probably at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. However, the present work is elevated from a mere factual rendering by being populated by a charming variety of people and local animals engaged in their day-to-day activities.
In the fifty years prior the execution of this panorama the development, rebuilding and expansion of the city of Calcutta had been impressive and extensive. Accompanying the panorama is a manuscript key which describes Calcutta as 'The City of Palaces'. Although references to the palaces of Calcutta can be found as early as the 1780s, the first recorded use of this phrase was by East India Company official James Atkinson (1780-1852) as the title of his poem published in Calcutta in 1824.
An earlier panoramic view of the city (1768) executed by engineer Antoine Polier (1741-1795) in the collection of the India Office Library shows the buildings along the banks of the Hooghly River, taken from the river; but the present panorama is unusual in its view point, taken from the house of Major General Eden in Fort William and looking across towards the banks of the Hooghly River in the distance.
Viscount Valentia, who dedicates a whole chapter to Calcutta in Voyages and Travels to India, Ceylon, the Red Sea, Abyssinia and Egypt (1809), described the city thus: ‘on a line with [Government House] is a range of excellent houses chunamed and ornamented with verandahs. Chouringee, an entire village of palaces, runs for a considerable length at right angles with it, and altogether forms the finest view I ever beheld of any city… The most remarkable sight of the kind I ever beheld was the throng that fills these streets in an evening. I drove for three miles through them without finding a single opening, except what was made by the servants preceding the carriage. The Strand in London exhibits nothing equal to it’ (p. 236).
Although the drawing itself is unnumbered, the accompanying key lists the buildings from left to right, and they are readily identifiable by Eden's descriptive key, listed below in full; the several amendments and crossings out suggest perhaps that the key was penned sometime after the drawing was executed:
'Panorama of Calcutta./Calcutta the capital of the [crossed out]/British population in [crossed out] India is/and [crossed out] the residence of the/ Governor General it is [crossed out] and is/ situated on the River Hooghly/ one of the branches of the/ Ganges. It is called from/ the magnificence of its buildings,/ The city of Palaces and/ contains upwards of 600,000 inhabitants-/Fortwilliam from which the /view is taken, was built .../the Governor General of India is/ the Governor of the Fort/
1. The Governor General’s Palace [crossed out] House/ built in 18.../when the Marquis/ of Wellesley was/ Govr Gen of Bengal – it/ commands a fine view /of the river, Esplanade/ Fort and Chowringhee,/ and is a most noble residence./
2. Under the Gov. Genl’s palace/ is a red building in the fort/erecting to be converted into [crossed out], for/ cells for the solitary/ confinement of soldiers who have misbehaved./
3. The commandant of artillery’s/ house in the fort over one of the gateways.
4. The residence to the left [crossed out] right of the great tree in the fort/ is the chief/ engineer’s and over one of /the gateways/
5. Barracks for European soldiers/
6. Chowringhee the residence of the/ principal Europeans, it com/mands a view of the Esplanade /Fort and river./
7. Road from Govt’s House to /where the inhabitants /ride and drive every evening/
8. Goal of Calcutta/
9. General hospital/
10. Insane hospital
11. Tree under which ducks are/are fought, and where /gentlemen ride of a morning/ a race course being marked/ out on the ground./
12. A village on fire/
13. Ravelin in which prisoners/ of war are confined./
14. Bridge from the ravelin over the/ ditch to the interior of the fort./
15. Orphan school for the/ children of company’s officers/
16. Kiddenpore bridge the/ road to garden reach/
17. Kiddenpore with Mr Kyds/- Dock yard with an/ Indiaman on the stocks./
18. Powder Magazine [crossed out] Building in a/ Hollow Bastion where Vizier/ ally the deposed Nabob of Arcot/ is confined/
19. Garden reach on the/ hooghly the country seats /of the Europeans/
20. relief of the European/ Guard for the security of /Vizier all -The Bungalow/ on the Bastion is the Officers/ Guard room.-/
21. European soldiers Barracks/
21. The Commanding Officer of /the King’s Regt house in the /Fort/
22. Officers quarters/
23. Officers quarters of flag staff/
24. Ordnance works shop/
25. The Govr Genl’s House in Fort Wm/
26. Lower orphan school for /soldiers children on the opposite/ side of the River/
27. Smoke from the foundry in/ the arsenal/
28. Fort Mason House in the/ fort/
29. Supreme Court of judication/
30. Church of Calcutta/
31. Town Hall' (on an accompanying sheet, folded into pages)
The Eden family were fully immersed in British government, policy and administration, both at home and abroad in the British colonies. Eden’s uncle William Eden, 1st Baron Auckland (1744-1814) was an influential diplomat and politician who served in the House of Commons from 1774-1793, while his cousin George Eden, Earl of Auckland (1784-1849) was governor-general of India (1835-1842), accompanied by George’s sister, the artist Emily Eden (1797-1869).
The Panorama's skillful rendering of the complicated perspective view, suggests that Eden had received training in surveying and topographical drawing, probably at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. However, the present work is elevated from a mere factual rendering by being populated by a charming variety of people and local animals engaged in their day-to-day activities.
In the fifty years prior the execution of this panorama the development, rebuilding and expansion of the city of Calcutta had been impressive and extensive. Accompanying the panorama is a manuscript key which describes Calcutta as 'The City of Palaces'. Although references to the palaces of Calcutta can be found as early as the 1780s, the first recorded use of this phrase was by East India Company official James Atkinson (1780-1852) as the title of his poem published in Calcutta in 1824.
An earlier panoramic view of the city (1768) executed by engineer Antoine Polier (1741-1795) in the collection of the India Office Library shows the buildings along the banks of the Hooghly River, taken from the river; but the present panorama is unusual in its view point, taken from the house of Major General Eden in Fort William and looking across towards the banks of the Hooghly River in the distance.
Viscount Valentia, who dedicates a whole chapter to Calcutta in Voyages and Travels to India, Ceylon, the Red Sea, Abyssinia and Egypt (1809), described the city thus: ‘on a line with [Government House] is a range of excellent houses chunamed and ornamented with verandahs. Chouringee, an entire village of palaces, runs for a considerable length at right angles with it, and altogether forms the finest view I ever beheld of any city… The most remarkable sight of the kind I ever beheld was the throng that fills these streets in an evening. I drove for three miles through them without finding a single opening, except what was made by the servants preceding the carriage. The Strand in London exhibits nothing equal to it’ (p. 236).
Although the drawing itself is unnumbered, the accompanying key lists the buildings from left to right, and they are readily identifiable by Eden's descriptive key, listed below in full; the several amendments and crossings out suggest perhaps that the key was penned sometime after the drawing was executed:
'Panorama of Calcutta./Calcutta the capital of the [crossed out]/British population in [crossed out] India is/and [crossed out] the residence of the/ Governor General it is [crossed out] and is/ situated on the River Hooghly/ one of the branches of the/ Ganges. It is called from/ the magnificence of its buildings,/ The city of Palaces and/ contains upwards of 600,000 inhabitants-/Fortwilliam from which the /view is taken, was built .../the Governor General of India is/ the Governor of the Fort/
1. The Governor General’s Palace [crossed out] House/ built in 18.../when the Marquis/ of Wellesley was/ Govr Gen of Bengal – it/ commands a fine view /of the river, Esplanade/ Fort and Chowringhee,/ and is a most noble residence./
2. Under the Gov. Genl’s palace/ is a red building in the fort/erecting to be converted into [crossed out], for/ cells for the solitary/ confinement of soldiers who have misbehaved./
3. The commandant of artillery’s/ house in the fort over one of the gateways.
4. The residence to the left [crossed out] right of the great tree in the fort/ is the chief/ engineer’s and over one of /the gateways/
5. Barracks for European soldiers/
6. Chowringhee the residence of the/ principal Europeans, it com/mands a view of the Esplanade /Fort and river./
7. Road from Govt’s House to /where the inhabitants /ride and drive every evening/
8. Goal of Calcutta/
9. General hospital/
10. Insane hospital
11. Tree under which ducks are/are fought, and where /gentlemen ride of a morning/ a race course being marked/ out on the ground./
12. A village on fire/
13. Ravelin in which prisoners/ of war are confined./
14. Bridge from the ravelin over the/ ditch to the interior of the fort./
15. Orphan school for the/ children of company’s officers/
16. Kiddenpore bridge the/ road to garden reach/
17. Kiddenpore with Mr Kyds/- Dock yard with an/ Indiaman on the stocks./
18. Powder Magazine [crossed out] Building in a/ Hollow Bastion where Vizier/ ally the deposed Nabob of Arcot/ is confined/
19. Garden reach on the/ hooghly the country seats /of the Europeans/
20. relief of the European/ Guard for the security of /Vizier all -The Bungalow/ on the Bastion is the Officers/ Guard room.-/
21. European soldiers Barracks/
21. The Commanding Officer of /the King’s Regt house in the /Fort/
22. Officers quarters/
23. Officers quarters of flag staff/
24. Ordnance works shop/
25. The Govr Genl’s House in Fort Wm/
26. Lower orphan school for /soldiers children on the opposite/ side of the River/
27. Smoke from the foundry in/ the arsenal/
28. Fort Mason House in the/ fort/
29. Supreme Court of judication/
30. Church of Calcutta/
31. Town Hall' (on an accompanying sheet, folded into pages)