Indian animals, C. 1830

Major-General Thomas Hardwicke was the archetypal old India hand. Hardwicke joined the East India Company at the raw young age of 22 and stayed on in the country right until he retired a full forty-five years later in 1823. Not much is known of his time here, apart from the predictable activities of an official of the &lsquoCompany Bahadur&rsquo. 

He took part in several wars, served under eleven Governor-Generals and generally made himself useful. However, what distinguished him from other India veterans is the landmark book that he published between 1830 and 1835 titled Illustrations of Indian Zoology in collaboration with the editor John Edward Gray. 

A dedicated naturalist, Hardwicke made full use of his various postings to commission lovely watercolour paintings of such beautiful specimens as the Almora Jay, the Bengal Fox and many other animals. He engaged unknown Indian artists to do the paintings, often teaching them the rudiments of using watercolours and anatomical painting himself. Amassing a rich hoard of specimens from India and other parts of Southeast Asia, Hardwicke&rsquos collection in his &lsquoMuseum Room&rsquo at Lambeth was the single largest such private collection. He arguably started the zoological tradition in this country with these handsome portraits.