Calcutta from the Old Course

1848

Later hand-coloured tinted lithograph on paper

Sheet Size: 13.75 x 232 in (34.7 x 58.5 cm)
With Mount: 20 x 29.25 in (50.5 x 74 cm)

This lithograph is taken from plate 15 of Sir Charles D'Oyly's Views of Calcutta and its Environs.

This print offers a wide-angle view of colonial Calcutta, captured from the Old Course of the river. It captures both the grandeur of the city and the traditional aspects of life, with people seen engaging in daily activities, and also depicts the bustling city and buildings that blend European architecture with traditional Bengali elements. The lithograph highlights the dynamic urban life of the city and its significance as the heart of British administration in India during the 19th century. D'Oyly's work is valuable both as an artistic achievement and a historical record of Calcutta's colonial landscape.

Sir Charles D’Oyly (1781–1845)
Charles D’Oyly was a well-known and prolific amateur British artist in India in the early 19th century. While acting as the East India Company’s Opium Agent and later Commercial Resident at Patna, he founded the “Behar School of Athens," a lighthearted society of dilettanti artists like his wife, himself, and his friend Christopher Webb Smith.

Lithography came to India in the 1820s, and D’Oyly was an early adopter. He was the first artist to publish his own works through the newly arrived medium of lithography. He had ordered a lithographic press from England in 1823, though transporting it to Patna proved difficult, with the first such attempt resulting in the destruction of the press in a squall on the Ganges. In 1828, D'Oyly ordered and established a second press in Patna. Most of D’Oyly’s works comprised picturesque landscape and river scenes, but the leisure pursuits of hunting, shooting, and fishing also featured prominently.

This lot will be shipped unframed.

NON-EXPORTABLE

This lot will be shipped in "as is" condition. For further details, please refer to the images of individual lots as reference for the condition.