A toddy-tapper

This is a page from the Boileau Album. The album contains 42 Company paintings and was probably the work of an artist from Thanjavur (Tanjore) living in Madras. Painting in Madras at this early period appears to have been linked mainly to individual patrons. John Peter Boileau, whose ancestors were French, served as a member of the Madras Civil Service from 1765 to 1785. He probably commissioned the album to take back home to England when he retired. This picture shows a toddy-tapper at work. The English word 'toddy' derives from Hindi tari, meaning the fermented sap of the tar or palmyra and also of other palms, such as the date and the coco-palm. In India toddy, in addition to its alcoholic uses, is employed as yeast for leavening bread and is obtained from the tree by climbing it, puncturing it and then allowing the white juice to trickle down into a jar or pitcher.