Lord Auckland Receiving the Rajah of Nahun in Durbar, in his Tent

Emily Eden

Emily Eden was a talented artist, accomplished novelist, and compulsive communicator who managed to capture the tumultuous politics and cultural complexities of nineteenth century India through her sketches, letters and novels. Like many women of the British aristocracy, Eden received private lessons in painting and watercolour, a skill she expertly utilised during her time in India, sketching a variety of landscapes, genre scenes and portraits.
After her return to England, she published a series of her drawings as a set of twenty-four lithographs titled Portraits of the Princes and People of India, in 1844. This work is Plate 24 of the series and is accompanied by a letterpress, providing us with an intimate perspective of the ceremonial pageantry of durbars.