Thaindian News

New Delhi, Sep 23 (IANS) The first printed depiction of Taj Mahal, the 17th century mausoleum built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, is among the highlights of a heritage art auction at the Bonham’s in London to be held Oct 4, a statement said Friday.

The print is part of a pictorial anthology featuring aquatint glimpses of India by William Hodges who travelled through the country in the 1780s executing drawings on the spot.

The drawings were compiled into a volume of aquatints. The book is estimated at 35,000 pounds.

The sale largely comprises an extensive collection of books, photographs and prints on India, put together privately over 25 years.

The key volumes on sale at ‘India and Beyond: Travel and Photography’ includes “a complete copy of Emily Eden’s ‘Portraits of the Princes and People of India’”, estimated at 30,000 pounds.

There are also numerous fine prints by Thomas and William Daniell, ranging from 400 to 3,000 pounds, in addition to their copy of Oriental Scenery (1812-1816) with 144 aquatint plates estimated at 7,000 pounds.

Published in 1844, Emily Eden’s “Portraits of the Princes and People of India” is a rare folio of 24 hand-coloured mounted lithographs which covers the panoply of life in the court of the Sikh rulers of Punjab, from Maharajahs and Nawabs to fakirs, servants and attendants.

The plates are based on original drawings by Emily Eden who lived in India from 1835-1842 when her brother, Lord Auckland, was the governor general.

Other pioneering works on sale are a first edition of Thomas Taylor’s “Meadows” and James Fergusson’s “Architecture in Dharwar and Mysore” (1866) with photographs by William Henry Pigou, Andrew Charles Brisbane Neill and Thomas Biggs estimated at 30,000 pounds.

Several other books, early Indian photographs and albums compiled by the likes of Lala Deen Dayal and Linnaeus Tripe will also be auctioned.