Le Colonial

This history house in Fort Cochin is probably Asia’s oldest colonial house dating back to 1506. Standing elegantly adjacent to St. Francis Church, it is reputed to have have been home to Vasco da Gama and the Saint. After 150 years as the Portuguese Governor’s home, it then housed the Dutch Governor Ian vas Spall until it was sold to the British in 1795. They passed it on to J. Thomas, the legendary traders of tea. The 500 years of history contained within its walls have now been restored and embellished with modern comfort. The colonial bungalows here have stood mute witnesses to history for the past 500 since the Portuguese arrived.

Now its occupants will be treated to a fabulous collection of art and artifacts belonging to the French businessman John Persenda, that adorn the walls, shelves and the refurbished settings. From a Cartier Bresson print to etchings, oils, engravings, objects of art and sketches of the colonial times, the theme at Le Colonial will be to reveal the past. So alive come the times of battles fought, of sieges, of surrender, victory and defeat. If you wish for a holiday with art history, it’s right here.The over 200 works, chosen, bought and collected from Western auction houses and from art dealers in New Delhi, Cape Town and Paris, give this seven suite hotel a complete “non-hotel” experience. So romantic is the theme, the collection and the style, so in keeping with the character of the place that as you sit on a wicker chair and sip tea in the verandah, history sits along with you. The present halts and the past unfolds.Essence of the past the rare Daniells catch the spirit of the times just as the military prints once again raise the heat and dust of bloody battles. Yes, the brandishing of swords, the neighing of the horses as they rise on their hind legs, the proud death of Tipu Sultan, the formal signing of a treaty are all there as fabulous prints. The seven suites are named to the theme. The Viceroy suite has sketches depicting the attire of the 1930 Royals, while the flora and fauna of the times, etched by “historical painters” to the “royal highness the Duke and Duchess of York” adorn the ADC room. The Vasco Da Gama suite has a bright, ruddy portrait print of the historic trader and a fantastic sketch of him done by Anjolie Ela Menon (1978). The contrast is superb. A moving engraving, a print from the “Plate representing the Departure of the sons of Tippoo from the zenana, by F. Bartelozzi, engraver to His majesty’s sculptor” is the arresting frame in the Tipu Sultan suite. Another historic moment, Hyder Ali receiving Admiral De Suffren, completes the theme of this room.

A touch of France is given to the Mahe de la Boudonnais room with 18th century French prints which have been with the Persenda family for four generations. (Mr. Persenda’s grandfather was in the artillery in Mesopotamia in 1914.)A portrait of a young Lord Clive dons the anteroom along with a small oil of the young Queen Victoria, four large prints of the surrender of Tipu Sultan’s sons and related works. Portrait prints of Dutch commanders in the Malabar, of the VOC (Vereenigde Oostindische Campagnie: The United Dutch East India Company), all 20 of them, line up the wooden stairway, resplendent in the attire of the times. The staircase foyer is lit up with three exquisite oils: of Queen Victoria, an Indian maharaja beautifully placed on an easel, and a huge work of a warrior holding a horse in front of a fort. Corridors, passages, verandahs and even the rest rooms have paintings of the Raj. Labour of loveTopies, helmets, caps worn by soldiers and a sailor cap with HMS Ganges are also on display and gold bound books on the history of the Dutch in Malabar are there for your reading pleasure. One can see how collating this rare and rich collection has been a labour of love for Mr. Persenda as he narrates an interesting incident about how that sale act of the property, 1795, between the Dutch (Jan Van Spall) and the British (Major Petrie) got misplaced at the framer’s but was finally found!Interesting artifacts like a small statue of an African with his cross and helmet, from the kingdom of Benin, alerts you to the fact that the Portuguese had come to India from Africa. Such historical cues fill the timeless puzzle of the past, the pictures narrate the story in detail and the expressions of the people in the pictures, in a strange sort of way, have something to do with our present.