Probably one of only a handful of copies issued with coloured litho title and all 24 plates after Eden mounted on card with hand-coloured borders, and with a bifolium with printed caption mounted before each plate, it was in a half maroon morocco binding that had seen better days, but it went on to sell for £55,000.
The Hon. Emily Eden, a talented amateur artist and novelist, accompanied her brother George, Lord Auckland, to India where he served as Governor-General from 1835-43, and on her return to England arranged to have her portraits printed in a portfolio, most copies of which were issued uncoloured. Though Emily obviously moved in the best circles, her portraits are not entirely confined to princes and those of high caste, but include servants and their families, together with religious devotees, Pathans and Tibetans.
Buyer’s premium: 17.5/10 per cent
Eden in full colour...
There were few plate books in this year’s Arts of India sale at Christie’s, held on September 27, but one notable result was provided by Emily Eden’s Portraits of the Princes & Peoples of India, published by J. Dickinson in 1844.
