96 - Sri Lanka.- Russell Dartnell (George) View from the N.W. Bastion of the Old Fort of Batticalloa, Ceylon,watercolour, inks, heightened with white, on laid paper with watermark of a Strasbourg lily, sheet 240 x 400 mm (9 1/2 x 15 3/4 in), tipped at corners onto original mount with ink inscription and date, and initialled by artist, some spotting, but mainly to the support's margins, unframed, 1825; together with another, pen and ink sketch incsribed '"Rest House", near the little village of [?]Madewallatina, in the Galgedhara Pass... Kandy. Sketched 25 July 1826 G.R.D.', sheet 235 x 365 mm (9 1/4 x 14 3/8 in), tipped onto original mount with ink inscription, heavy marginal spotting, unframed, 1826 (2)

Sri Lanka.- Russell Dartnell (George) View from the N.W. Bastion of the Old Fort of Batticalloa, Ceylon,watercolour, inks, heightened with white, on laid paper with watermark of a Strasbourg lily, sheet 240 x 400 mm (9 1/2 x 15 3/4 in), tipped at corners onto original mount with ink inscription and date, and initialled by artist, some spotting, but mainly to the support's margins, unframed, 1825; together with another, pen and ink sketch incsribed '"Rest House", near the little village of [?]Madewallatina, in the Galgedhara Pass... Kandy. Sketched 25 July 1826 G.R.D.', sheet 235 x 365 mm (9 1/4 x 14 3/8 in), tipped onto original mount with ink inscription, heavy marginal spotting, unframed, 1826 (2) Provenance: Private collection, London *** Born and educated in Ireland, Dartnell joined the British Army in 1820 and received his diploma as a member of the Royal College of Surgeon's in 1822. While working as a military doctor, he was also an amateur artist and produced numerous studies when abroad on postings. He was working in the Indian subcontinent from the mid 1820s. Many of his original studies are held in the British Library.