[1] Young Student at the Hindu College in Calcutta, [2] A Child of One of the Servants of Government House

Emily Eden, the creator of this image and the one to your left, lived in India between 1836 and 1842, during the time her brother, Lord Auckland, served as Governor-General there. During her travels Eden made numerous sketches of the various people she encountered, whether of high social status or low. The toddler on the right side of this page, for example, was the daughter of one of the servants of the Governor-General. The young boy on the left side of the page came from a wealthy Calcutta family and according to Eden "recited English poetry with particular grace and propriety." A much higher-ranking figure, a young Muslim prince, is the subject of the print to your left. As most of Emily Eden's contemporaries sketched landscapes, monuments, and well-known political figures, Eden's drawings provide us with rare portraits of South Asian children. Shortly after Eden's return to England a portfolio of prints based upon her drawings was published under the title Portraits of the Princes and People of India.