The emblems, medals and medallists of the Royal Asiatic Society

Extract

On 17 May 1823, two months after the founding of the Royal Asiatic Society, a selection of designs for the emblems of the Society was laid before Council. These had been prepared by the members Thomas Daniell, RA (1749—1840) and his nephew William Daniell, RA (1769—1837), both of whom were noted for their drawn and engraved views of India. On a single card which remains in the Society's possession, the Daniells submitted four designs for a seal of circular form. The first of these depicts a richly caparisoned elephant carrying a howdah of two compartments. A turbaned attendant sits before the howdah, holding an ankus in his right hand and a small whip in the left (Plate Ia). A second design (Plate Ib) shows a dense grove of banyan-trees beneath which stand three figures in Indian dress. The third drawing (Plate Id) depicts an Indian harrowing with an ox. In the background there is a palm tree and a view of the Jantar Mantar (astronomical observatory) erected in 1710 at Delhi by the Rajput Maharajah and astronomer, Jai Singh II of Jaipur. The fourth design (Plate Ie) shows an Indian ploughing. The background in this last drawing remains largely unfinished.