Sir Charles D`Oyly and Captain Thomas Williamson
Europeans in India: From a Collection of Drawings, by Charles D‘Oyly
Sir Charles D'Oyly and Captain Thomas Williamson, The European in India / from a collection of drawings by Charles Doyley, Esq. ; engraved by J.H. Clark and C. Dubourg ; with a preface and copious descriptions, by Thomas Williamson ; accompanied with A brief history of ancient and modern India, from the earliest periods of antiquity to the termination of the late Mahratta War, by F.W. Blagdon, London: Published and sold by Edward Orme, 1813
[6], 149, [9] p., including 20 fine colour aquatint plates, each accompanied by descriptive letterpress (mostly on two leaves); original publisher’s blue-grey paper-covered boards with printed paper label to upper cover reading “COLOR PRINTS,” rebacked in cream paper with later dark olive-green morocco gilt spine label. Housed in a modern bespoke linen-covered solander box with gilt-lettered morocco spine label and decorative border tooling in gilt.
11.5 x 9.25 x 1 in (29 x 23.6 x 2.5 cm)
Plates are identical to those in Sir Charles D'Oyly, Costume and Customs of Modern India, London: E. Orme, circa 1824, differing only in that the frames are washed in grey and pink instead of yellow.
LIST OF PLATES
1. A European gentleman with his Moonshee, or native professor of languages / 2. A gentleman in his private office, attended by his Duftoree, or native office keeper / 3. A gentleman in a public office, attended by his crannies, or native clerks / 4. A gentleman dressing, attended by his head bearer, and other servants / 5. A gentleman attended by his Hajaum, or native barber / 6. A gentleman delivering a letter to a Soontah Burdar, or Silver Batonbearer / 7. A gentleman's Kedmutgars, or table servants, bringing in dinner / 8. An English family at table, under a Punkah, or fan, kept in motion by a Khelassy / 9. A gentleman with his Sircar, or money servant / 10. A gentleman with his Hookah Burdar, orpipe bearer / 11. A Saumpareeah, or snake catcher, exhibiting snakes before Europeans / 12. Marquis Wellesley's dandy, or boatman, in his livery / 13. An European lady giving instructions to her Durzee, or native tailor / 14. A dancing woman of Bengal, exhibiting before an European family / 15. A dancing woman, of Lueknow, exhibiting before an European family / 16. An European lady attended by a servant, using a hand punkah, or fan / 17. An European lady and her family, attended by an Ayah, or nurse / 18. Kaut Pootlies, or puppets, exhibited by native jugglers, for the amusement of European children/ 19. A native gentleman, smoking a Goorgoory, or hookah, in his private apartments, attended by his dancing girls / 20. Marquis Wellesley & his suite, at the Nabob of Oude's breakfast table, viewing an elephant fight.
SATIRE AND SOCIETY IN THE RAJ: THE EUROPEAN IN INDIA, 1813 - D’Oyly and Williamson’s Pioneering Aquatint Chronicle of Anglo-Indian Life
Published in 1813 during the zenith of British imperial consolidation in the Indian subcontinent, Europeans in India stands as one of the earliest and most important attempts to visualise the social and domestic life of British residents in India through the eyes of a fellow colonial inhabitant. The work brings together the talents of three figures: Charles D’Oyly, the Anglo-Indian amateur artist and East India Company official; Captain Thomas Williamson, the seasoned officer and author of Oriental Field Sports; and Frederick William Blagdon, whose historical précis situates the plates within a broader colonial historiography.
D’Oyly’s illustrations—here reproduced as aquatint engravings, delicately hand-coloured—are notable for their fusion of sharp observational wit with painterly sophistication. They capture the nuances and eccentricities of British life in India: the languor of a gentleman reclining under a punkah, the chaotic bustle of an elephant fight watched by Governor-General Wellesley, or the everyday ritual of a “natch” (dance) performed for British amusement. D’Oyly’s compositions, while humorous and at times caricatural, are rich in ethnographic and sartorial detail, recording not only the posture and costume of British officers and memsahibs, but also the turbans, robes, and gestures of Indian attendants, tradesmen, fakirs, and servants.
The plates are accompanied by wry and often satirical commentary by Capt. Williamson, who, having spent over two decades in India, infuses his notes with anecdotal realism, highlighting the contradictions, prejudices, and absurdities of colonial society. In contrast, Blagdon’s textual introduction—which spans nearly 150 pages—offers a didactic history of India from the Mughal period to British ascendancy, reinforcing the civilisational narrative then used to legitimise empire.
The collaborative nature of the volume is striking. Williamson’s voice frames D’Oyly’s art in a mode of colonial self-reflection, while Blagdon’s historical contextualisation lends the work institutional weight. The publisher, Edward Orme, a leading figure in Regency-era colour plate books, ensures that the aquatints—executed with precision and vibrancy—are of a high standard, suitable for a discerning European audience curious about life beyond the metropole.
Importantly, this work predates D’Oyly’s celebrated Antiquities of Dacca and The Costumes and Customs of Modern India, and thus marks the beginning of a long and influential visual engagement with India by a generation of Anglo-Indian artists working within the aesthetics of picturesque realism and colonial satire. It may be read as both a record and a critique of Anglo-Indian life, where colonial privilege, cultural incongruity, and performative leisure were openly displayed.
The work occupies a significant place in the history of British visual culture in India and is considered a precursor to later illustrated publications by D’Oyly and others in the Bengal School of Company painting and print culture.
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