Neueste Karte von Hindo?tan, Bengalien etc. (Latest Map of Hindostan, Bengal, etc.)

1788

Copper engraving on paper

23.5 x 14.5 in (59.5 x 37 cm)

An Allegorical Cartouche from Rennell’s Hindostan and Bengal - Imperial Iconography of British India (Vienna, 1788)

This finely engraved late-eighteenth-century allegorical cartouche, extracted from a German-language map of Hindostan and Bengal after Major James Rennell, represents a refined example of Enlightenment-era imperial iconography. Issued in Vienna under the direction of Franz Anton Schraembl in 1788, the cartouche formed the ornamental and ideological focal point of a larger Rennell-derived map documenting British territorial presence in India.

"The cartouche depicts, according to Rennell: "Brittannia receiving into her Protection, the sacred Books of the Hindoos, presented by the Pundits, or Learned Brahmins: in Allusion to the humane Interposition of the British Legislature in Favor of the Natives of Bengal, in the Year 1781. Britannia is supported by a Pedestal, on which are engraven the Victories, by means of which the British Nation obtained, and has hitherto upheld, its Influence in India: amongst which, the two recent ones of Porto Novo and Sholingur, gained by General [Eyre] Coote, are particularly pointed out by a Sepoy to his Comrade." (Source: Wikipedia)

The composition centres on a neoclassical roundel depicting a staged ceremonial encounter between European and Indian figures, visually encoding themes of colonial diplomacy, administrative transfer, commerce, and imperial authority. Surrounding motifs — including classical architectural elements, laurel garlands, palm trees, maritime vessels, and symbolic attendants — situate the scene within a broader narrative of global exploration, trade networks, and British expansion in South Asia. Executed in crisp copper-engraved linework, the vignette exemplifies the period’s fusion of cartographic science with allegorical visual rhetoric.

While the original sheet extended to a detailed geographic representation of British East India Company territories, the present fragment survives as a self-contained visual document, preserving the map’s symbolic, political, and artistic programme. As an object, it offers a concentrated lens onto the aesthetic language and ideological framing of late-eighteenth-century imperial cartography.

NON-EXPORTABLE

This lot is offered at NO RESERVE

This lot will be shipped in "as is" condition. For further details, please refer to the images of individual lots as reference for the condition of each lot.