Charles Gold was a Soldier Painter of the British Raj. He became a gentlemen cadet in the Royal Artillery in 1776 and became Colonel in 1825. "Oriental Drawings" is a series of images produced from sketches made by the Captain during his time in India. What is interesting is that while the other British Artists drew the Scenes, Scenery, Palaces and Monuments. Gold concentrated on the people. Soldier, Saints and Snake Charmer. Taking twelve of these characters, ITC has created a Splendid Calendar. Madam Sophie Charlotte Belenos had also concentrated on the people and her book 24 Plates on Manners and Illustrative of Hindoo Manners published in 1830 has been reprinted and has been reproduced in a Calendar. Then we have a Calendar of the Street Scenes of Calcutta: Old Court House Street of 1840 and The Esplanade of 1870, all from eminent artists giving a pride of place to the calendar. We now come to a calendar depicting the origin of different games like cricket, football, polo and others adorned with not only engravings but a slice of history. For example: The Football Association, known by its abbreviation The FA, is the oldest football association in the world. It is also noted in this calendar that Ts'u-chü is an ancient Chinese ball game that is the earliest known recorded game similar to soccer and dates back 200 years before the birth of Christ. Then we have a calendar with the European Painters from Leonardo da Vinci, Caravaggio, Velázquez, Rembrandt, Vermeer and Goya. Coming more near to home calendars galore of our favourite Rabindranath Tagore from Paintings to his Women all reminding us that 1986 is the 125th year of his birth.
