‘Aden – Oct 22nd /71’
Mss Eur F140/234/5
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The record is made up of 2 drawings; watercolour and pencil on paper, pasted into volume. It was created in 22 Oct 1871. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
About this record
- Content
Genre/Subject Matter
These two small watercolour drawings depict scenes taken from life at the Settlement of Aden in 1871. Both drawings focus on Arabs’ use of camels as a form of transport.
In the left-hand drawing, four veiled women perch alongside one another atop a litter held in place on the back of a light-haired camel. All four women are obscured in blue robes; the woman on the right has an uncovered face, while only the eyes of the other three women are visible.
A tall, slender man wearing only a blue loincloth and turban leads the camel by a tether attached to a harness about its muzzle. He holds what appears to be a walking stick or cane in his right hand.
The right-hand image shows an Arab man standing balanced on the neck of a dark-haired camel. He is wearing a turban and loincloth, which is held together by a belt that also holds a janbiya in place. Both the material of the turban and loincloth are blue with red detailing and have been rendered very delicately in order to illustrate this. The man wears an object at his side, held there by a strap that crosses his torso. He whirls a whip above his head. Behind him, balanced on the camel’s saddle is a long-barrelled rifle; it has been decorated in black and white concentric stripes.
Both drawings are stylistically in keeping with other sketches of ‘natives’ in this volume and in the related files Mss Eur F140/232 and Mss Eur F140/233, which, together with this volume, complete the trio of journals created by Jeffrey C. Amherst.
Inscriptions
Lower left corner: ‘Aden – Oct 22nd /71’
Temporal Context
The drawing was made during the period Amherst was based at Aden, between 30 November 1870 and 1871/1872. It is likely to have been sketched from life either at or near the Isthmus Position, where two companies of British and two companies of Native Infantry were regularly based, according to an 1877 publication (F. M. Hunter, An Account of the British Settlement at Aden , (London: Trübner & Co., 1877)) and where Amherst was attending a musketry course between 18–28 October 1871. Amherst moved about frequently between Crater, Isthmus, Ras Marshag and elsewhere during his time at Aden.
- Extent and format
- 2 drawings; watercolour and pencil on paper, pasted into volume
- It is part of
- 2 imagesRef: Mss Eur F140/234
- Physical characteristics
Dimensions:
108 x 180 mm [landscape]
Materials:
Pencil on paper
Condition:
The paper is slightly foxed, with light surface residue but otherwise in good condition with adhesive still sturdy.
Foliation:
The images have been assigned a sequential number, 5, which is written in pencil in the lower right corner of the page onto which the image is pasted.
- Written in
- English in Latin script
- Type
- Drawing
Archive information for this record
- Original held at
- British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity.
- Access conditions
Unrestricted
- Archive reference
- Mss Eur F140/234/5
- Date(s)
- 22 Oct 1871 (CE, Gregorian)
Access & Reference
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- Places
- AdenCentral AsiaAvaBengalBombayBrazilBurmaCanadaCantonCentral IndiaChinaDelhiFort WilliamHong KongHyderabad StateIndiaIranIrelandJavaMadagascarMadrasMalaccaNagpurOudhPenangPhilippinesRajputanaRamreeRussiaShahpurSicilySingaporeBharatpur
- People & organisations
- AlcesteBengal ArmyBombay ArmyBotanic Gardens, SaharanpurBritish ArmyMadras ArmyOxford UniversitySeahorseJeffery Charles AmherstWilliam Pitt AmherstCharles AbbotJohn AdamSarah AmherstCharles Chaston AsseyWilliam Butterworth BayleyJames Silk BuckinghamArchibald CampbellJohn CanningWilliam CasementWilliam Henry BentinckJohn CrawfurdCharles B ElliottMountstuart ElphinstoneJames Ochonchar ForbesRobert FullertonJohn Herbert HaringtonReginald HeberJames Dowling HerbertJohn Anthony HodgsonRandle JacksonRichard JenkinsRobert Banks JenkinsonSir John Macdonald Kinneir, KnightCharles LushingtonHolt MackenzieWilliam Hay MacnaghtenSir John Malcolm, KnightGeorge MartinCharles Theophilus MetcalfeRobert MorrisonDavid OchterlonyEdward PagetJohn ParkerHenry Thoby PrinsepThomas Stamford Bingley RafflesRanjit SinghFrancis Rawdon-HastingsJohn William RickettsMordaunt RickettsThomas Campbell RobertsonWilliam RobisonHenry ShepherdGeorge Thomas StauntonRobert StevensonAndrew StirlingGeorge SwintonHenry WillockCharles Watkin Williams WynnCarolineThomas MunroHenry Unwin AddingtonGeorge CanningJeffrey AmherstStapleton CottonSir William Lockyer Merewether, KnightAmherst (Family)
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‘Aden – Oct 22nd /71’, British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F140/234/5, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023518036.0x000001> [accessed 24 April 2024]
- Link to this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- Mss Eur F140/234/5
- Title
- ‘Aden – Oct 22nd /71’
- Pages
- 5r
- Author
- Amherst, Jeffery Charles
- Usage terms
- Public Domain