An Original Watercolor of Tipu Sultan by One of Colonial India's Most Famous Female Artists.
Bound in a Fantastic Association Copy.
A fantastic contemporary likeness of Tipu Sultan, the Tiger of Mysore, by the noted female miniaturist Anna Tonelli, who accompanied the Clive family to India, where her patron, Lady Henrietta Clive, established a reputation for natural history collecting and writing.
The portrait, rendered with delicate brushwork characteristic of late-18th-century miniature painting, conveys a sense of individual likeness and regal bearing. The Sultan is adorned with a turban, embellished with jewels and a feather, signifying his royal status. His jewelry, including a beaded necklace, adds to the depiction of his wealth and stature. Tonelli has captured the Sultan’s facial features with a degree of naturalism, including his pronounced nose, mustache, and the contour of his lips. This profile pose was common in portraits of the Sultan.
The drawing is mounted at the beginning of the first edition of the most important printed account of the British triumph over Tipu Sultan. This detailed and firsthand account of the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War was written by Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Beatson, who served as Surveyor General to the Army that fought Tipu Sultan. This work offers a comprehensive look into the climactic battles and strategies that led to the British victory over Tipu Sultan. The book is noted for its detailed descriptions of military engagements, including the decisive Battle of Seringapatam, where Tipu Sultan was ultimately defeated and killed, marking the end of the Mysore kingdom's resistance against British dominance in India.
Alexander Beatson, who started his military career with the British East India Company as a cadet in 1775 and later became an ensign in the Madras infantry in 1776, brings a wealth of personal experience and insight to this narrative. Despite primarily serving in an infantry role, Beatson's involvement in engineering tasks during the wars against Hyder Ali and his participation as a lieutenant with the Guides in Lord Cornwallis' campaigns against Tipu Sultan lend authenticity and depth to his account. His later position as a field officer and surveyor-general under Lieutenant-general Harris during the siege that captured Seringapatam in 1799 further cements his role as a key observer and participant in these historical events.
Lady Clive, The Clive Family, and Tipu Sultan
This drawing was originally made for Henrietta Clive, Countess of Powis. She was married to Edward Clive, who became the 1st Earl of Powis, and served as the Governor of Madras (now Chennai, India) from 1798 to 1803. This period was crucial in the history of British India due to the Anglo-Mysore Wars. Edward was the son of Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive, known popularly as "Clive of India."
Tipu Sultan, the ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India, was a formidable opponent of the British East India Company. He was known for his fierce resistance against British expansion in India. Edward Clive's tenure as Governor of Madras included the period of the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1798-1799), which culminated in the defeat and death of Tipu Sultan at the Siege of Seringapatam in 1799.
Henrietta Clive accompanied her husband to India and is noted for her travel writings and observations of Indian culture and the natural environment during her time there. Henrietta's writings provide valuable insights into the British colonial experience in India. In addition to her writing, she was a noted natural historian, botanist, and mineral collector.
Anna Tonelli
The authorship of the drawing is attested to by the contemporary inscription above it, noting its authorship by "the Governess of Lady Clive." During this time in India, Lady Clive's governess was Anna Tonelli.
Tonelli, née Anna Nistri, was a distinguished Italian portrait painter and miniaturist born around 1763 in Florence, Italy. Her career took a significant turn in 1794 when she moved to London. There, she not only taught drawing to the children of the Clive family but also exhibited her work at the Royal Academy of Arts in 1794 and 1797.
From 1798 to 1801, Tonelli accompanied the Clive family to India. Her time and output in India have gained increasing recognition in recent years and have been the subject of several articles and essays. A selection is noted here:
Bonacini, Elena. "East Meets West in 18th-Century Italian Artist’s Letters." TORCH | The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities, September 12, 2023. https://www.torch.ox.ac.uk/article/on-travel-and-translation-in-anna-tonellis-letters.
Bonacini, Elena. "How a Florentine Portraitist Saw Early 19th-Century British India." The Florentine, January 9, 2024. https://www.theflorentine.net/2024/01/09/how-florentine-portraitist-saw-early-19th-century-british-india/.
Chu, John. "Game of Thrones in an ‘Asiatic World’: Anna Tonelli and Henrietta Clive in British India." National Trust Historic Houses and Collections Annual, January 1, 2018. https://reader.exacteditions.com/issues/63926/spread/39.
Jeffares, Neil. "TONELLI, Sig.ra Luigi, née Anna Nistri." Dictionary of Pastellists Before 1800, Online Edition. Accessed 3.27.24. http://www.pastellists.com/Articles/TONELLI.pdf.
Birds of Passage: Henrietta Clive's Travels in South India 1798-1801. Edited by Nancy K. Shields. London: Eland, 2009.
William Gent
The drawing passed from Lady Clive to the Gent family, who included it in the present volume.
Colonel William Gent was the Chief Engineer in the Madras Army at the Siege of Seringapatam, and in colonial Madras, he and his family were contemporaries of the Clives.
The famous mezzotint frontispiece portrait, Tippoo Sultaun. From an original Drawing in the Possession of the Marquis [Richard] Wellesley, has been modified in this example by Gent to read "of Major General Gent" instead. Beatson, of course, was aide-de-camp to the Marquess Wellesley, who was Governor-General of India during the capture of Mysore.
Provenance
Drawing commissioned from Anna Tonelli by Lady Henrietta Clive
Given by Lady Clive to Mrs. William Gent
Colonel (later Major General) William Gent, Madras Army
George Gent, Moyns Park, Bumpstead, Essex