Review by Choice Review
Eastern Encounters examines the relationship between British and South Asian rulers over four centuries as told through paintings and manuscripts now held in the British Royal Collection. Each century is documented in a single chapter that recounts the political, economic, and social contexts of cultural activity from the earliest days of the East India Company and its eventual dissolution to the assumption of territorial control of India by the Crown and Indian independence in the 20th century. Through a detailed presentation of the long, and relatively unstudied, history of collection building, Hannan (curator, Royal Collection Trust) reveals the sharp contrasts--for example, the instability, on the one hand, of the British monarchy in the 17th century and the contemporaneous Golden Age of the Mughals as the backdrop for the numerous transactions (including diplomatic gifts, trophies of military conquest, and purchase) that gave rise to the collection. The four chapters are supplemented by an extraordinary catalogue focusing on 86 works. Including stunning reproductions of each work, ample notes, and an insightful bibliography, this well-documented work will be invaluable to those studying the history of collecting and the circulation of works on paper, British and South Asian history, and the history of art, specifically paintings and manuscripts of the Indian subcontinent. Summing Up: Essential. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals.--Juilee Decker, Rochester Institute of Technology
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
