TWO BURMESE ADDERS, COMPANY SCHOOL, PROBABLY BARRACKPUR, CALCUTTA, CIRCA 1810

The production of natural history paintings for British patrons by Indian artists had begun as early as the 1770s. Famously, Sir Elijah Impey, the Chief Justice in Calcutta, and his wife employed several artists, formerly in Patna, to produce an album of such paintings. The Indian artists were introduced to European models for their work: Edwards' A Natural history of birds, Latham's A General synopsis of birds and Curtis's Flora Londiniensis must have been amongst the works that directed the style of the Indian artist's work (Archer 1972, p.73). Apart from private patronage, from the early years of the 19th century these artists could also find work with the East India Company on official work of various kinds. As early as 1800, the Marquis of Wellesley had ordered the collection of various forms of fauna from India and elsewhere for his proposed Fort William College. Although this institution failed to gain the support of the Directors of the Company, Wellesley was able to establish the Institution for Promoting the Natural History of India at Barrackpore in 1804 (Archer 1962, p.29). It became known as `The Barrackpore Menagerie' and housed animals, birds and reptiles sent from around the eastern regions of the British Empire. Under the supervision of Francis Buchanan, this collection was detailed and drawn, with most of these drawings being sent to the Directors in London in 1808. Some work continued after this and duplicates had been made. At least into the 1820s, artists in Calcutta were commissioned to produce natural history albums, presumably drawing upon the resources of the Menagerie for their inspiration.

Within the wider corpus of Comany School natural history studies, illustrations of reptiles are a rare type.