Untitled (Botanical Study, Jackfruit)

Jackfruit, the large, tropical tree fruit with its thick, corrugated rind, must have been an exotic plant to behold for the earliest Europeans who came from temperate climes as traders in the subcontinent. When the British East India Company—after defeating the other European contenders to ascendancy in India—settled as the prime commercial force, it commissioned the visualisation of all the resources of the country, through drawings, paintings and etchings, of which this work is an example. It gives a complete picture of the fruit to the uninformed, with its characteristic exterior and fleshy interior.