#MB46
Ca. 1890
Two watercolours on paper, each ca. 14x22,5 cm (5 ½ x 8 ¾ in). Period manuscript captions in pencil on verso. Later matting. A very good pair.
Attractive original watercolour views of Port Blair, the capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (India) and the centre of the infamous penal colony during the British rule. Apart from an unsuccessful attempt to establish a colony on the islands in 1789, Britain hadn’t risen territorial claims to the Andamans until the 1850s. In 1858 a British penal colony was set up for dissenters and independence fighters from the Indian subcontinent. Since 1972 the Andaman and Nicobar islands were administered by a chief commissioner at Port Blair. The infamous Cellular Jail was constructed in Point Blair in 1896-1906.
Drawn during the colonial period, the watercolours present interesting views of the Andaman Islands, including “Government Rest House” – summer headquarters of the British administration located on a beautiful Mount Harriet, the third highest peak of the islands. Another watercolour is taken from the Aberdeen District Officers’ House and has a great view of Ross Island where the British administrative headquarters were settled. The artist, Sir Hastings Hadley D’Oyly, 11th Baronet of Shottisham (succeeded in 1921) lived and served in British India. He gained the rank of Captain in the service of the Bihar Light Horse and later served as a deputy commissioner of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
