A.H. Walker Diamond Harbour, Hooghly River, Bengal, India

An original 1873 watercolour painting, A.H. Walker, Diamond Harbour, Hooghly River, Bengal, India.

An interesting, wide-format profile view on the Hooghly River in Bengal, delicately painted from the water. The location is identified as 'Near Diamond Harbour', an area on the eastern banks of the river that was so-named by the British, who used it for both river and sea shipping. The view here shows numerous boats, including a 'troop ship' and 'merchant vessel', along with native Chhot boats.

This is one of a group of watercolours that we have for sale by A.H. Walker, documenting his return voyage back to England from India in 1873. Walker was based at Jubbulpore (Jabalpur) in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, possibly working for the Indian Civil Service.

The drawings document his trip from the Hooghly at Calcutta in Bengal down the east coast of India, round to Kerala, then west to the Red Sea and Suez, where the canal had only recently opened in 1869. The drawings are an eyewitness account of a journey that was traversed by so many British during the Raj in the 19th century.

In watercolour with pen and ink.