The Hunting Cheetah

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Details

Size: 10 x 14 inches (with mount)
Medium: Hand-Coloured Engraving
Condition: Fair condition; spotting around white border in top half

Description

A hand-coloured engraving by William Daniell from “The Oriental Annual: Containing a Series of Tales, Legends, and Historical Romances” by Reverend Hobart Caunter and Thomas Bacon. Published by Edward Bull London, 1834-1840. The title of the engraving is “Sports of the East - the Hunting Cheetah” and depicts the cheetah in Indian courtly culture being used for hunting. The Asiatic cheetah was kept by kings and princes to hunt gazelle and blackbucks from about the 12th century in India. The Mughal emperor Akbar had around 1000 Cheetahs for hunting gazelle and blackbucks.
William Daniell RA (1769 - 1837) was an English landscape and marine painter and printmaker, notable for his work in aquatint. He travelled extensively in India in the company of his uncle Thomas Daniell, with whom he collaborated on one of the finest illustrated works of the period - Oriental Scenery. He later travelled around the coastline of Britain to paint watercolours for the equally ambitious book A Voyage Round Great Britain. His work was exhibited at the Royal Academy and the British Institution and he became a Royal Academician in 1822.

The engraving measures 6.25 x 9.5 inches without the mount and 10 x 14 inches with the mount. 

  • ABOUT Engravings & Etchings

    During the 18th and 19th centuries, several British and European men travelled within India and produced paintings, drawings, sketches and prints documenting the architecture, landscape, flora and fauna. Amongst these travellers were historians, artists, aristocrats and army officers. Upon their return to their home countries, some of them had their books published, which serve as an excellent record of India’s history, till date. The books had prints of the artworks created by these travellers, made using different printmaking techniques such as engraving, etching, aquatint, lithography and others.

    For instance, Thomas Daniell (1749 - 1840) and his nephew William Daniell (1769 - 1837) travelled extensively in India between 1786 and 1793. Thomas Daniell was the son of an innkeeper, who began his working life as a bricklayer before becoming an assistant to the coach painter of the king. On their return to Britain, Thomas and William produced many paintings, drawings and prints based on the sketches they had made while travelling. The 144 aquatint prints, collectively known as 'Oriental Scenery', represent the single largest and most impressive project by English artists to depict Indian architecture and landscape. Another famous traveller was Prince Waldemar of Prussia, Germany, who landed in Calcutta in January 1845, while on an expedition to explore distant lands. He was accompanied by a team of military men already familiar with India, a botanist and a medical doctor. Besides being a trained military man, Waldemar was also an enthusiastic artist and created many watercolour paintings and sketches depicting his travels across India. These watercolours were turned into lithographs in Berlin on his return. ‘In Memory of the Journey of Prince Waldemar of Prussia to India in the Years 1844-1846’ was printed posthumously in two volumes in 1853, and features many of his artworks. Other travellers to India whose work prints were later published include French naturalist Pierre Sonnerat, British Army Officer Captain Charles Gold, English watercolour painter Chares Bentley, amongst others.

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