Shrine in Kanchipuram

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Details

Size: 24 x 24 inches (framed)
Medium: Hand-Coloured Etching and Aquatint
Condition: Good condition

Description

A fine and rare hand-coloured etching and aquatint by H. Merke, after a painting by James Hunter from “A Brief History of Ancient and Modern India” published June 4th 1804, by Edward Orme, His majesty’s printseller, 59 New Bond Street, London. The aquatint is titled “A Mosque at Strupermador” but has been mis-named by Hunter as the figures in the niches and the Nandis on the corners of the Hindu temple show the shrine depicted is in the town of Sriperumbudur, in Kanchipuram district of Tamil Nadu. In common with many other works of travel and topography of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the image was etched almost entirely in aquatint, which produces a soft tonal quality. 
Lieutenant James Hunter (1755 - 1792) served in the Royal British Artillery in India and took part in the campaigns against Tipu Sultan, under Marquess Cornwallis. Hunter worked as a military artist, and his sketches portray aspects of military and everyday life. After the signing of the Treaty of Seringapatnam (Srirangapatna), Hunter took permission from Tipu Sultan to sketch the environs and monuments of his kingdom, for his collection of illustrations titled “Picturesque Scenery in the Kingdom of Mysore”, which were later engraved and published in the “A Brief History of Ancient and Modern India”.
Henri Merke was a Swiss engraver, a specialist in aquatint, and worked in London 1800 - 1820.
Edward Orme (1775 - 1848) was a British engraver, painter and publisher of illustrated books.
The same image has been sold at Christies, Bonhams and is also in the collection of the British Museum.

The engraving measures 11 x 13.5 inches without the frame and 24 x 24 inches with the frame.

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