Untitled [Set of 2 prints]
a) Frans Balthazar Solvyns
Ayah
Hand-coloured etching on paper
Print size: 14 x 9.25 in (35.5 x 23.7 cm)
Sheet size: 17.25 x 12.5 in (43.7 x 32 cm)
With Mount: 23 x 18.5 in (58.7 x 47 cm)
Plate 4 from the 4th Volume of Les Hindoûs, Paris: Chez L'Auteur, 1808-1812
Below is the descriptive text as printed on the reverse of the print.
"The first is the Ayah, that is the nursery maid. This servant is in every house of any fortune: she takes care of the children, and dresses the young ladies of the family. Her costume is the mussulmans, and consists of a peticoat, a jacket, and a drapery for the head; which she wears while in presence of her mistress, and to which there is sometimes a border of coloured silk. She wears, like all the Indian women, a ring in her nose, and is constantly chewing bettel. She is generally the wife of some servant of the house, and resembles them all in performing no other service than her own particular one, and being incapable of any attachment to her masters, whatever benefits she may have received from them." Above is the descriptive text as printed behind the print.
b) Frans Balthazar Solvyns
Ayah
Hand-coloured etching on paper
Print size: 14.25 x 9.25 in (36 x 23.7 cm)
Sheet size: 17.25 x 12.5 in (43.7 x 31.7 cm)
With Mount: 23 x 18.5 in (58.7 x 47 cm)
Plate 3 from the 4th Volume of Les Hindoûs, Paris: Chez L'Auteur, 1808-1812
Below is the descriptive text as printed on the reverse of the print.
"There are other females who fill the place of ladies maid: they are the confidants of their mistresses, and attach vast importance to their employment. Some of them acquire such an ascendency over them, that they become absolutely indispensable. It is true that they are in general very discreet, but their secrecy is always in proportion to the money and presents which they receive. They are mostly from upper Hindoostan, and are not so cleanly as those we have just mentioned. The one I have drawn has the mussulmans costume, wide drawers down to her feet, and a fuller drapery than the preceding Ayah." Above is the descriptive text as printed behind the print.
Frans Balthazar Solvyns (1760–1824)
Belgian marine artist Frans Balthazar Solvyns lived in Calcutta between 1791 and 1803 and is considered one of the earliest printmakers in India, besides Thomas Daniell. During his time in India, he documented 18th-century Indian culture and habitats, including the people, their occupations, festivals, and religious customs.
Solvyns produced a remarkable series of engravings which were first published in Calcutta in 1796 and 1799. Due to lack of financial success, Solvyns left for Europe. Unfazed by his failure, he issued a second, expanded edition of Les Hindous in Paris in 1808–12 that was reorganised and consisted of four volumes with bilingual descriptive text in French and English and a few extra plates for a total of 288.
Les Hindous, which explores an incredibly intimate and detailed portrait of a people at a specific historical moment, features members of a wide range of professions and social classes in India. It also shows us festivals and sacred rites, animals, birds and insects, trees and crops, as well as the different types of boats, carriages and musical instruments that were in common use at the time. Every individual and thing is rendered in close detail by an educated and curious eye, and sometimes with humour, sometimes with a sombre grandeur.
The plates from the present lot are from the French edition of Les Hindous.
(Set of two)
These works will be shipped unframed
NON-EXPORTABLE
This lot will be shipped in "as is" condition. For further details, please refer to the images of individual lots as reference for the condition.