Pakistan landscapes and scenes
Watercolour album.
Oblong 4to (287 x 195 mm). 23 leaves with 17 watercolours and 4 pencil drawings (1 watercolour having been removed); a few blanks. Contemporary marbled half calf.
$10,536.00
A fine watercolour album composed by a member of the British Army stationed in Pakistan, shortly after the Battle of Hyderabad in March 1843. The unknown artist (whose name may be indicated by the initials "WME" on the flyleaf) followed the Indus river from Karachi to the northern parts of the Sindh province. Most drawings have pencilled place names; only a few are untitled. The album begins with a watercolour of the tomb of the British officer Bowen, of the 86th regiment, who drowned in an attempt to swim his horse across the river, followed by a watercolour of the spot where the accident occurred. Furthermore, the album contains views of Karachi (3, including a "captured pirate vessel"), Hyderabad (4), Jerruk (Jhirk), Bhaker Fort (3), Sukkur, Soonda (between Makli and Jerruck), and eight unidentified cities and landscapes. A sketch of the "Mess Verandah" at Fort Hyderabad has been removed.
A rare and very interesting manuscript album with fresh and unfaded colours, dating from the early years of the British presence of Pakistan: the British East India Company began its invasion of Sindh in 1839; Karachi was the first area in the province to be occupied. By 1843 most of the province (excepting the State of Khairpur) was added to the Company's territory after victories at Miani, Dubba and Hyderabad.