THE INDIAN JUJUBE (ZIZIPHUS MAURITIANA): A BOTANICAL STUDY FROM THE COLLECTION OF MAJOR JAMES NATHANIAL RIND, COMPANY SCHOOL, CALCUTTA, CIRCA 1800

Major James Nathaniel Rind (d.1814)
Sold in these rooms 13 July 1971, probably lot 43, "The Property of Mrs S. Richardson and Mrs S.M. Norman".

This large study the Indian Jujube plant (Ziziphus Mauritiana) is from the collection of Major James Nathaniel Rind (d.1814), who commissioned a large number of botanical and zoological studies during his time in India. 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.

A large group of natural history studies from the Rind Collection was sold in these rooms 13 July 1971, lots 1-48 (this one probably lot 43). Two others have been sold in these rooms 22 October 1993, lot 227, and 8 May 1997, lot 196. A study of a lily from the same series is in the Brooklyn Museum of Art (see Poster 1994, no.246, pp.296-297). Lots 116 and 117 in this sale are also from the Rind Collection. The Indian Jujube (Ziziphus Mauritiana) is a spiny evergreen shrub native to India that thrives in tropical and sub-tropical regions. Its edible fruit has many uses and its timber is hard and strong, being used in industry and furniture making.