NAVIGATION

Throughout the Raj many of the British who worked in India were often seriously interested in studying the unexplored nature, and exotic and mysterious atmosphere of India. Sir Elijah Impey was Chief Justice of Bengal from 1774 to 1782 and his wife Mary, Lady Impey kept a private zoo on their large estate in Calcutta where she assembled many rare species of birds and animals from which her Indian painters drew studies from life. Many of these rare bird species had never before been recorded and were of great scientific and ornithological interest. Some of these drawings are now held in the Linnaean Society, London.
Small parrots and other colourful birds were often kept as pets and presented in cages such as this fine example.