Masula Boats

1827

Original hand-coloured lithograph on paper laid on board

Print size: 6.5 x 9.5 in (16.8 x 24 cm)
Sheet size: 7.5 x 10.5 in (19.2 x 26.5 cm)

John Gantz, probably of Austrian extraction, was a painter, draughtsman, lithographer, surveyor. He was employed by the East India Company as a draftsman and architect from approximately 1800-1803, eventually receiving a government pension. By 1827 he had set up the first lithographic press in Popham's Broadway, Madras, one of the first of such presses in India. He is described in the manuscript list of Madras inhabitants dated 25 March 1819 as 'Architect. Native of India.'

Madras present day Chennai lies on the Bay of Bengal and was founded in 1639 by the British East India Company. It was the first important English settlement in India and remained the centre of English influence in the East until the rise of Calcutta in the late 18th century. The city was one of India’s major ports and mercantile centres, based around the harbor and George Town, its commercial heart.

This plate was part of pre-occupation of Gantz illustrating various Indian modes of transportation, crafts, and occupations in and around Madras. He died in 1853 in Vepery, Madras.

This work will be shipped unframed

NON-EXPORTABLE