Flower power

In the higher altitudes of the Himalayas grows a ldquovery deadly plantrdquo which was once described as the ldquodeleterious vegetable poison of continental Indiardquo Its effect on dogs was known to be most lethal ldquoTwo grains put into the jugular vein of a strong dog produced death in three minutesrdquo Itrsquos also why the Himalayan Monkshood is known as wolfsbane in Europe The plant was first illustrated by artist Vishnupersaud in 1828 for one Mr John Royle from SaharanpurThe artwork was part of a large collection of botanical paintings from the countrymdashmany commissioned by the East India Companymdashto leave Indian shores nearly 200 years ago for the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew in Britain With a just released title Indian Botanical Art An Illustrated History Roli Books the collection has finally returned to the subcontinent for the first time albeit as a printed archiveThe Himalayan Monkshood Aconitum ferox Ranunculaceae painted probably by artist Vishnupersaud circa 1828 for John Royle from SaharanpurAuthored by veteran horticulturist Martyn Rix the paintings in the book offer a rare insight into some of the ldquofirst Indian plants to be described scientificallyrdquo ldquoThe paintings were designed for the correct identification of the plants as a backup to dried specimens which soon lose their colour and turn brown Two or more copies of the most important paintings were made one set was kept in Kolkata and one set was sent to the East India Companyrsquos library in London many of these ended up in the library at Kewrdquo shares Rix in an email interview from England There couldnrsquot have been a better person to reacquaint India with its rich botanical history Rix has travelled the length and breadth of the country studying plants first in Kerala and Tamil Nadu and later in Kashmir and more recently in Rajasthan ldquoSo I was delighted to have an opportunity to study these Indian paintings in more detailrdquo admits Rix who is also editor of Curtisrsquos Botanical PaintingsTurmeric or haldi Curcuma longa Zingiberaceae Artist unknown for William Roxburgh in Madras circa 1970 Pic courtesyIndian Botanical Art An Illustrated History Roli BooksFlower painting in India was first made famous during the early 17th century by the Mughal rulers who patronised many an artist ldquoBut the flowers in Mughal paintings were generally confined to decorative borders of paintings or calligraphy or shown with figures in the setting of a flowery meadow and were seldom the main subjectrdquo says Rix One exception he says was the famous tulip by Mansur a court painter for the Emperors Akbar and Jehangir ldquoJehangir in particular was a great observer and lover of flowers and there must have been more paintings of special flowers that Mansur painted for him which are now lost Mansur also produced copies of paintings from European flower books which were in the library of the Mughal court Because these were books of uncoloured engravings the colouring in some of Mansurrsquos paintings is distinctly fancifulrdquo he admits The Companyrsquos interest in Indian plants on the other hand was mainly practical and economic he adds This also explains why some of the earlier paintings were primarily of useful plants which might provide valuable crops examples include dye plants such as Amaranth and edible plants such as cashew nut melon and pomegranateIt was only in the 18th and 19th centuries that ldquothe first great flowering of Indian botanical paintings took placerdquo Several surgeons employed by the Company worked with Indian artists whose drawings were used for both ldquoreference and scientific studyrdquo ldquoThere was also great interest in traditional Indian medicinal plants some of which were also used as spices such as turmeric These could be used against the diseases and fevers to which the Europeans had little resistance In addition to their fellow Europeans the young surgeonbotanists had responsibility for the Indian employees of the Company and one of the most energetic botanists Robert Wight even had charge of the stables of oxen which were the main engines of transport at the time As they came to know the local flora the botanists studied the plants for their own sake and for their beauty irrespective of whether they had any economic userdquo says RixSince the Indian artists were already ldquoexperts in copyingrdquo they were able to reproduce the flattened plant specimens with perfect accuracy he adds ldquoThe botanists provided the large sheets of watercolour paper but the artists made their own colours and soon learnt to paint the flowers lifesize instead of in miniaturerdquoOf the collection he has put together for the book Rix says the flower paintings collected by John Ferguson Cathcart an amateur botanist who had his own botanic garden in the hills near Darjeeling were most impressive ldquoIn 1848 he was employing five artists to paint the flowers growing in his garden many brought to him by local villagers By all accounts they were generously paid but sadly their names were not recorded They illustrated a wide range of beautiful plants with great delicacy some of these were published after Cathcartrsquos death by Joseph Hooker in one of the most beautiful of all flower books ever produced Illustrations of Himalayan Plants 1855 His Highness Maharajadhiraj Bahadur Mahtab Chand Rai King of Burdwan Charles Darwin and Queen Victoria were among the 176 subscribers to the bookrdquoIn fact many local artists went unrecognised during this period because they didnrsquot sign their paintings which was the usual practice at the time There were however many notable names that flourished in the 18th centurymdashSheikh Zain alDin Bhawani Das and Ram Das to name a few ldquoThey not only painted flowers but also mammals birds fish and reptilesrdquo In fact a painting of a fruit bat by Das will soon be for sale at Sothebyrsquos in London with an estimate of pound300000 to pound500000 ldquoSo the value of these great paintings is beginning to receive the recognition it deservesrdquo he says In recent years that there has been a ldquorenaissance of botanical paintingrdquo of sorts with artists Hemlata Pradhan Kalimpong Jaggu Prasad Rajasthan and Nirupa Rao Bengaluru showing the way ldquoHemlatarsquos work is special because it shows many of the plants in their wild situation some of her paintings are full of ferns and mosses Her family has had a nursery in the foothills of the Himalayas for many yearsrdquo says Rix Rao on the other hand has made a speciality of painting South Indian trees from the forests of the Western Ghats and highlighting those that are endangered in this hotspot of biodiversity ldquoHer style is exuberant informal and threedimensional a great contrast to the rather flat and restrained paintings of the 18th and early 19th centuriesrdquo