Full Leather
Full Leather. Good. Wonderful folk art-ish paintings of Indian musicians, craftsmen, dancers, etc. 8vo. 22.5 by 18.5 cm. 12 leaves, with four paintings mounted onto the rectos of each of these leaves. Mica painting has a long tradition as a technique for artists to trace existing works. The type of mica paintings here, representing occupations, ceremonies and artistic performances, were made exclusively for European patrons, most typically, employees of the East India Company, as momentos of their time in India. (See M. Archer, "Company Paintings, Indian Paintings of the British Period", published by the Victoria and Albert Museum, 1992, pp. 193-201.) The leaves are thick, almost of a card stock, yet heavily toned and verging on brittle. The paintings were mounted with a glue which unsurprisingly left an impression visible behind the clear mica. A number of the paintings had become detached and were remounted, and generally the paintings are just loosely attached and without care any of them could become loose. The leather binding is scuffed and has a good amount of rubbing, especially along the edges, and a few abrasions. The boards, which are original, are of morocco, while the spine is from a rebacking and is a calf. Nonetheless, the match between the two works rather well.
(Inventory #: 005513)