Lot 65 Details

Absolute Tuesdays: Old Maps and Vintage Prints 13 February 2024

Girard and L H de Rudder after Prince Alexis Soltykoff

INTERIEUR DU...

Later hand-coloured aquatint on paper

View Dimensions Without mount: 19.8 x 23.6 in (50.5 x 60 cm)
With mount: 26.3 x 29.9 in (67 x 76 cm)

Translation of the title: 40 Miles From Madras, Daily Meeting of the Brahmins in Honour of the Two Deities of Preservation and Destruction, July 1841, printed by Auguste Bry in Paris.

After serving briefly in the Russian diplomatic corps, Russian nobleman Prince Alexei Dmitrievich Saltykov (1806-1859) moved to France and changed his identity to Alexis Soltykoff, under which he became well-known as a travel writer and artist.

He set out on The Berenice in 1840, fulfilling a childhood dream of visiting India, and arrived in Bombay on 15 March 1841. After that, in April, he travelled to Ceylon. From there, in June, he proceeded to Tamil Nadu, stopping first to see the Rameshwaram Temple on Pamban Island. His further travels across South India brought him to Tanjore, Vellore, Madras, Kanchipuram, and finally the western coast of Travancore. He proceeded to Tiruchirapalli and Madurai after seeing the Raja of Pudukkottai.

Later, in August 1841, he made his way back to Travancore and paid a visit to the Maharaja at Trivandrum. Subsequently, he proceeded to Northern India, where he stayed until 1843. In 1845–1846, he travelled to India once more. The accounts of these travels were eventually published under the title Voyages dans L'Inde (Voyages in India), which is how we currently know the book.

The text was published in multiple editions under various titles. These included the 1851 Russian edition, the 1848 French version Lettres sur L'inde by Amyot, the 1859 Bombay publication of Indian Scenes and Characters, the British version Indian Scenes and Characters, and the 1858 Paris publication Voyages dans L'inde by Garnier Freres.

During his travels he created a series of drawings with the theme of dance, including the present lot.

Even if the image is once more stereotypically romantic, it displays great attention to detail in the accurately drawn architecture and clothing. Against the backdrop rises the majestic gopuram, and there are the two customary mounted elephants.

It's possible that the temple mandapa is being used to stage the performance. A mridangam player is seated, as seen on the left. The dancers appear to be performing a dramatic abhinaya scene, which could be part of a kuravanji recital. It should be noted, however, that all of the dance scenes that Soltykoff captured occurred in the time immediately after the Tanjore Quartet revitalised and renewed the dasi attam repertoire.

Similar unattributed "nautch" drawings can be found in an online Columbia University gallery of "nautch" images. This 1846 piece, titled A Madras Street Scene From a French Travel Book, is on display on the website. It is evident that this is a rendition of Soltykoff's Kanchipuram temple dance scene, but it is impossible to determine if this is an early sketch by Soltykoff or a later copy created by another artist.

NON-EXPORTABLE

Winning bid
$8,675
Rs 7,20,000
(Inclusive of buyer's premium)