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Exotic fruits, flowers and animals 18 x 18 in / 46.1 x 45.6 cm
Mohman Kharon, Nabob of Cambay 17 x 14 in / 43.1 x 35.6 cm
This collection of fine original watercolour drawings, taken from
plates in James Forbes’ ‘Oriental Memoirs’, published in London,
1813-15, is an important record of the natural history of early
eighteenth century India. We are delighted to have an opportunity
of exhibiting this group of previously unpublished works.
In 1775 James Forbes travelled to India as Private Secretary to
Colonel Henry S. Keating of the East India Company and was
later appointed to a post in Baroche in Gujarat. In 1780 he became
Collector of Dubhoy and remained in India until 1784 when the
district in which he lived was ceded to the Mahrattas. In 1810,
Forbes was put in charge of his fifteen-month old grandson, the
future orator and historian, Charles de Montalembert. Thenceforth
his life was divided between caring for Charles and the production
of his ‘Oriental Memoirs’. The work takes the form of a densely
illustrated series of letters describing many aspects of life in India.
The plates from which the drawings are inspired are all dated 1813
or earlier and are contemporary to the period, bearing a J. Whatman
watermark of 1815. The detail and draughtsmanship of this group
of watercolours are that of a highly gifted artist and the illustration
of Mohman Kharon, Nabob of Cambay, is perhaps a reference to
its origin. Two of the drawings depict Brazilian subjects whilst the
rest relate to India. The work was drawn from one hundred and
fifty two folio volumes (some 152,000 pages) that Forbes filled
with notes and sketches. This exhibition celebrates an extraordinary
achievement - one that Forbes himself described in the preface
to ‘Oriental Memoirs’ as the ‘principal recreation of my life.’
The drawings have contemporary titles that read as follows:
1. Spotted Kingfisher, and Singular Frog / on the Coast of Malabar
2. Bubul, or Indian Nightingale / on a sprig of Custard Apple
3. The Baya or Bottle-Nested Sparrow of India / in a Branch of the
Banbel Tree
4. Humming Birds at the Brazils / with nest on the Orange Tree
5. Red, Blue and White Lotus of Hindustan
6. Blue Locust and Faggot Caterpilllar / with its fists on the
Variegated Aeacia or Baubel Tree
7. Grains in Guzerat
8. Grains in Guzerat
9. The Cayere or Cashew Apple of Malabar
10. Skeleton Mantis and Oil plant of Guzerat
11. The Mahwhaw Tree of Guzerat
12. Blue Lizard and Hiva Tree
13. The Mezzagon Mango of Bombay, with Papilis Bolino, or
Purfileyed Butterfly
14. Different Nests of the Baya with the Ipomea
15. Indian Squirrel and Tamarind Tree
16. Blue Banana Bird at Rio de Janeiro / on the Guava Tree
17. The Sahras or Demoiselle of Guzerat / from five to six feet
in height
18. The Flying Fish (Exocaetus evolans)
19. The Medusa or Portugese Man of War
20. The Curmoor or Florican / one of the highest flavoured birds of
India / about half the size of nature
21. Mohman Kharon, Nabob of Cambay