The Jeypore Exhibition of 1883 was regarded as among the most important industrial exhibitions of 19th century, where specimen of the best artwork of India was curated. Credited to the arduous efforts of Thomas Holbein Hendley, a British officer in the princely state of Jaipur, the Exhibition was primarily an attempt to showcase local skills.
A permanent ‘memorial’ of the Exhibition was produced as a four-part set of illustrated volumes, authored by Hendley and commissioned by the visionary Maharaja of Jaipur. The first volume contained a number of chromolithographs and a general description of the plates in the first three books of the set. The second and third volumes contained 100 photographs of Indian art work, while Volume IV also included reproductions in platinum of the illustrations of Emperor Akbar’s own copy of the Razmnama, the Persian epic. Published by W.H. Griggs, some sets were presented to leading museums of the world, and very few copies were sold.
This facsimile edition of a rare copy of Volume I, preserved at Jawahar Kala Kendra in Jaipur is now published to recreate those splendours documented by Hendley, for modern-day scholars and connoisseurs.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Thomas Holbein Hendley
Thomas Holbein Hendley (1847-1917) worked as a Residency surgeon in Jaipur from 1874 to 1897. Besides his professional work, he devoted himself to many interests beyond his medical duties, particularly to the promotion of local arts and crafts. He was very much concerned to preserve the authenticity of the Indian designs and wanted to avoid unwelcome change through any European influence. The famous "Jeypore Exhibition", launched by him in 1883., had the declared purpose to present selected examples of the best artwork in India. T.H. Hendley had suggested to Maharaja Madho singh II, the then ruler of Jaipur, to build a museum for the display of products manufactured by the local craftsmen. The Albert Hall Museum was opened in 1887 and most of the objects of the Jeypore Exhibition were transferred to it. They are exhibited in the same museum till today. In 1909 T.H. Hendley published twelve special numbers of The Journal of Indian Art as a monograph with the title "Indian jewellery". It is here presented as a reprint, supplemented by Waltraud Ganguly with fifty-two additional colour plates and introductory notes about the history and the author of the book.
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