A noble couple out for a walk, 
Jaipur, Rajasthan, circa 1820, 
opaque pigments on paper...

A noble couple out for a walk, 
Jaipur, Rajasthan, circa 1820, 

opaque pigments on paper heightened with gold, on a river bank, holding each other, their pet dog leaping around, a fan and huqqa bearer behind, within gold and gold speckled blue margins with orange rules, wide gold and silver speckled borders, the reverse with 19th century inscriptions in black ink, "To dearest Mrs Bowell with .... (illegible) kindest love"  to upper right corner, number no. 6, name of Lady Colebrooke, personal description "Native ... (illegible) going for a walk with their bearers", minor scattered losses, one larger to lower right margin under orange rule, some scuffing including to lower corners, framed and glazed,

35.2 x 24.8cm. visible 

Provenance: Lady Louisa Ann Colebrooke (bapt. 1790-1867) and then gifted to a Mrs Bowell from whom the paintings were inherited and thence by descent. 

Louisa-Ann Colebrooke was baptized in Madras in 1790, the daughter of an army lieutenant. In 1807 she married an army officer Henry Stewart with whom she had a daughter and then married for a second time James Edward Colebrooke, 3rd Baronet, in Calcutta in 1820. Born in 1761, James Edward succeeded his father Sir George Colebrooke as 3rd Baronet and Hereditary Keeper of the Castle of Crawford in 1809. He became Senior Merchant on the Bengal establishment, Judge of Appeals at Murshidabad, and was Resident and Commissioner at Delhi from 1777-1821. He was, however, suspended from office in 1829  'on account of various corrupt practices'. Returning to England, the Colebrookes resided at Colebrooke Park in Kent, and James died in Tunbridge Wells in 1838. Following the death of her husband, Louisa Ann married her third and final husband in 1841, James Bremridge, and she died in 1867 in Horsham, Sussex following an accident and was buried at Southborough in Kent.

The British Library contains a letter, dated 24 Oct 1781, from James Edward Colebrooke to his father Sir George Colebrooke, 2nd Bart (1729- 1809), East India Company director 1767-72, describing the rising of Chait Singh, Raja of Benares, and reporting Sir Eyre Coote's recent victories against Haidar Ali (Mss Eur B286).