Old Indian Arts archive: Nov 21, 2010

Illustrations of Indian Zoology (1830 - 1835) - Part 1

Major-General Thomas Hardwicke (1755 – 3 May 1835) was an English soldier and naturalist who was resident in India from 1777 to 1823. After returning to England he collaborated with John Edward Gray in the publication of Illustrations of Indian Zoology (1830-35).

During his military career in India Hardwicke travelled extensively over the subcontinent. He started collecting zoological specimens in these travels and amassed a large collection of paintings of animals which he got local artists to make. Most paintings were made from dead specimens, but many were also drawn from life. When he left India he had the largest collection of drawings of Indian animals ever formed by a single individual.

The Indian artists employed by Hardwicke are unknown but they were trained and their style was adapted to the demands of technical illustration using watercolours. The collection was bequeathed to the British Museum in 1835 which was later partly moved to the Natural History Museum. The collection consists of 4500 illustrations.

His collections of illustrations were used by zoologists like J. E. Gray. Illustrations of Indian Zoology was published with Hardwicke's financing and it contained 202 large hand coloured plates, but he died before the textual part was produced. (Wikipedia)

ILLUSTRATIONS
OF
INDIAN ZOOLOGY;
CHIEFLY SELECTED FROM THE COLLECTION
MAJOR GENERAL HARDWICRE
BY
JOHN EDWARD GRAY