Untitled: mammal, from an album belonging to botanist Richard Cresswell, 1780-1810 (opaque w/c & ink...

This drawing is part of a collection of Indian paintings (mostly botanical) from the early 1800s. The animal is not identified on the work but could be a palm civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus). In the late 18th and early 19th centuries the East India Company controlled much of the Indian subcontinent. Keen to exploit and export valuable natural commodities, the Company set out to record the flora and fauna of India and commissioned Indian artists to create detailed illustrations. Company School style paintings became popular with wealthy Europeans. It was not uncommon for East India Company officials (who were not employed as medics or botanists) to build their own personal collections of paintings depicting Indian flora and fauna. We cannot be sure how local amateur botanist Richard Cresswell came by this collection of 86 Company School works. It is possible Henry Creighton commissioned them during his time as a judge in Calcutta and that on his death the works came back to the UK with his daughter Frances who later married Richard Cresswell.