Sri Lanka

1870 · Best.-Nr. ABC_50117 — 1870. Oblong album ca. 31.5 x 35.5 cm. Near-contemporary half red velvet spine rubbed/faded beige and multi-colour floral cloth sides decorated with brown woven ribbon trims the velvet and cloth cover greenish-blue pebble-grained cloth boards blue marbled endpapers the pastedowns covered with red silk. With 125 black-and-white photographic prints mounted on cardboard accompanied by numerous handwritten annotations in French on the album pages. 45 ll. A substantial and historically important late 19th-century photograph album comprising 125 photo’s documenting British India and Ceylon present-day Sri Lanka. Of the total 100 photographs depict India and 25 Ceylon. The album offers a wide-ranging visual survey of architecture urban life religious monuments landscapes botanical subjects and scenes of daily activity during the high colonial period. 21 photographs within the album are identified to named photographers or studios. 7 prints bear the imprint of Charles Thomas Scowen 1852-1948 of Scowen & Co. Kandy and Colombo with a further 3 issued from Scowen negatives by the Colombo Apothecaries Company after that firm acquired Scowen’s stock in the early 1890s. Scowen was one of the most accomplished photographers active in 19th-century Ceylon establishing his studio in Kandy by 1876 and later opening in Colombo. His work produced primarily for the tourist and commercial market is distinguished by technical refinement clarity of detail and strong compositional qualities and is today represented in major institutional collections including the Getty Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The album also contains 1 identified photograph by Bourne & Shepherd the pre-eminent photographic firm of 19th-century India renowned for its architectural and landscape views and for its official role at imperial events such as the Delhi Durbar. 2 photographs are attributed to Lala Deen Dayal 1844-1905 the most celebrated Indian photographer of his generation court photographer to the Nizam of Hyderabad and recipient of a Royal Warrant from Queen Victoria his work is widely regarded for both artistic merit and documentary importance. Further identified material includes one photograph by the Bombay studio of Edward Taurines 5 architectural views attributed to Charles Lickfold 1846-1909 in Ahmedabad one view of the Ellora caves attributed to John Johnston and one Ceylon photograph by the German Alfred William Amandus Plâté 1859-1931.The Indian and Pakistani section includes extensive architectural and topographical views from Lahore Amritsar Peshawar Jaipur Amber Ahmedabad Baroda Vadodara Aurangabad since 2023 Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Ellora Caves Bijapur Hyderabad Golconda Pondicherry now Puducherry Trichinopoly now Tiruchirappalli and Madurai. Among the Lahore subjects are views of the Wazir Khan Mosque the Badshahi Mosque the Shalimar Gardens and the tomb of Jahangir Amritsar is represented by the Golden Temple Jaipur and Amber by palace complexes zenana quarters gateways and lakeside views Ahmedabad by the Jami Masjid Sidi Saiyyed Mosque Rani Sipri Mosque and Jain temples; while the Deccan is illustrated through monuments at Aurangabad Daulatabad Fort Bijapur’s Gol Gumbaz and Ibrahim Rauza and Hyderabad and Golconda fortifications.The Ceylon section presents Colombo harbour and jetty views Kandy and its lake Peradeniya Botanical Gardens Nuwara Eliya tea cultivation scenes indigenous fishing craft and a number of carefully composed botanical studies including breadfruit talipot palms bamboo ferns and ficus. The album ends with a panoramic view of Aden Yemen then an important British coaling station and strategic port at the entrance to the Red Sea.The binding shows some wear with the fabric around the boards and on the pastedowns slightly loosened. Some of the unidentified photographs display mild sepia tonal fading consistent with age. The final unidentified photograph in the India section exhibits some surface loss the album shows some foxing browning and occasional staining to the card mounts not affecting the photographs. Otherwise in good condition.l Cf. Edwards "Photography in colonial India" Emire and Art: British India 2017 pp. 110-143; Paranavitana"Image in Photographic Print in the Context of Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Sri Lanka." 2009; Shinde "Photography in India" Studii si cercetari de istoria artei Seria Arta plastica 10.54 2020 pp. 107-118. hardcover