A large illustration of a female papaya tree, a botanical study from the collection of Major James Nathaniel Rind, India, Company School, Calcutta, circa 1800

Major James Nathaniel Rind (d.1814)

Sotheby's, London, Oriental Manuscripts and Miniatures, 13 July 1971, lot 47, "The Property of Mrs S. Richardson and Mrs S.M. Norman"

Maggs Bros., London, 1971

This very large study of a female Papaya Tree (Carica papaya) is from the series made for Major James Nathaniel Rind (d.1814), who commissioned a large number of botanical and zoological studies during his time in India. 

The production of natural history paintings for British patrons by Indian artists began in the 1770s. The earliest paintings of botanical specimens were commissioned by Dr James Kerr, a Scottish surgeon stationed in Bengal who arrived in India in 1772 and sent a group of drawings and some specimens of plants back to Scotland as early as 1773. In the late 1770s and early 1780s Sir Elijah Impey, the Chief Justice of Bengal, and his wife Lady Impey employed several artists to produce an extensive series of exquisite studies of plants, mammals, birds, reptiles and fish (see lot 61 in this sale). The production of natural history studies increased in the early 19th century and Indian artists could often find work with the East India Company on official work of various kinds as well as through private patronage. For detailed discussions of the subject of Company School botanical painting in India see Noltie 2019 and Rix 2021.

James Nathaniel Rind was commissioned into the Bengal Marines in 1778 and later transferred to the 18th Native Infantry. Between 1785 and 1789 he was based at Calcutta and was part of a team of officers involved in a survey of India. His son, also called James Nathaniel, was a captain in the 37th Native Infantry and was killed aged 32 at Gandamak on the retreat from Kabul in 1842.

Like many of the larger illustrations from the Rind series, the present illustration has been folded horizontally across the centre after being painted, presumably so as to be able to fit it into a portfolio album or folder. It must have remained folded for a considerable time, as the green pigment of the stems and leaves (probably containing a copper substance) has offset where the two halves of the paper touched, leaving a slightly oxidised mirror image on the opposite half.

A large group of natural history studies from the Rind Collection was sold in these rooms 13 July 1971, lots 1-48 (this study was probably part of lot 47, which included an illustration of a Papaya plant with a central fold and offsetting, as seen here). Two others were sold in these rooms 22 October 1993, lot 227, and 8 May 1997, lot 196, and three examples were formerly in the Stuart Cary Welch collection, sold in these rooms 31 May 2011, lots 116-8. A study of a lily from the same series is in the Brooklyn Museum of Art (see Poster 1994, no.246, pp.296-7).

The papaya is thought to have originated in Central America and to have been brought to tropical parts of Asia and Africa by the Spanish and Portuguese in the 16th century. Its fruit is highly nutritious and is widely cultivated and consumed in South Asia. The fruit can be eaten raw or cooked and the leaves can be steamed and eaten as a vegetable. The flowers produced by the male and female papaya trees are slightly different and the particular form of the white flowers in the central part of this illustration identify it as a female of the species.