2-981-774 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Arch at Colombo, Ceylon, on the occasion of the Royal Visit [of the Prince of Wales], from a sketch by one of our special artists, 1876. 'I saw pyramids of fruit eight feet high surrounding the bases of [triumphal] arches..., the ingenious gentleman to whom the decorations of Colombo were confided bethought him of something new, and, as Ceylon is not only a great fruit store and conservatory of grandly painted flowers, but also the home of the elephant, he made arches of effigies of these magnificent creatures - arches of elephants composed of canvas and rich Oriental blossoms, arches representing the king of Ceylon beasts entwining trunks and tusks, and upraising their heads in order to let the Prince pass under...The shape of the animals has been well carried out, so much so that, when sketching, our Artist saw a horse shy as it came up'. From "Illustrated London News", 1876.