Sixty drawings of Mughal monuments and architectural details.
Architectural Drawing
ca. 1836 (painted)
ca. 1836 (painted)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
‘Company paintings' were produced by Indian artists for Europeans living and working in the Indian subcontinent, especially British employees of the East India Company. They represent a fusion of traditional Indian artistic styles with conventions and technical features borrowed from western art. Some Company paintings were specially commissioned, while others were virtually mass-produced and could be purchased in bazaars.
The Taj Mahal, depicted here from the garden side, was built by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan to commemorate his deceased wife, Arjumand Banu Begum, better known as Mumtaz Mahal ('Elect of the Palace'), who died in 1631, shortly after giving birth to their fourteenth child. Work was begun in 1632, and the mausoleum was completed in 1653.
The Taj Mahal, depicted here from the garden side, was built by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan to commemorate his deceased wife, Arjumand Banu Begum, better known as Mumtaz Mahal ('Elect of the Palace'), who died in 1631, shortly after giving birth to their fourteenth child. Work was begun in 1632, and the mausoleum was completed in 1653.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Sixty drawings of Mughal monuments and architectural details. (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Watercolour on paper |
| Brief description | Architectural; drawing, The Taj Mahal, Agra, Delhi, ca.1836 |
| Physical description | The Taj Mahal, at Agra, is shown from the garden side. |
| Dimensions |
|
| Style | |
| Marks and inscriptions | Taj Mahal, Agra, from the Fountain-Garden, built 1632-48 (English; Roman; back; pencil; ca.1836) |
| Object history | The drawings are recorded as being by 'native' droughtsmen of the Delhi School in the Office of the Honourable East India Company's Superintendent of Public Buildings and Ancient Monuments at Calcutta, ca.1836. These set of drawings are of Mughal monuments in the Delhi area in a landscape setting. They are almost identical to a set collected in Delhi by Sir Thomas Metcalfe, ca.1840, some of which were by Mazar Ali Khan and published in Kaye, 1980. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Place depicted | |
| Summary | ‘Company paintings' were produced by Indian artists for Europeans living and working in the Indian subcontinent, especially British employees of the East India Company. They represent a fusion of traditional Indian artistic styles with conventions and technical features borrowed from western art. Some Company paintings were specially commissioned, while others were virtually mass-produced and could be purchased in bazaars. The Taj Mahal, depicted here from the garden side, was built by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan to commemorate his deceased wife, Arjumand Banu Begum, better known as Mumtaz Mahal ('Elect of the Palace'), who died in 1631, shortly after giving birth to their fourteenth child. Work was begun in 1632, and the mausoleum was completed in 1653. |
| Bibliographic reference | Archer, Mildred. Company Paintings Indian Paintings of the British period
Victoria and Albert Museum Indian Series London: Victoria and Albert Museum, Maplin Publishing, 1992 145 p. ISBN 0944142303 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | IM.19-1923 |
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| Record created | December 15, 1999 |
| Record URL |
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