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Description: | Photograph from an album of 80 albumen prints taken by Eugene Clutterbuck Impey, showing columns of the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque in the Qutub Minar complex at Delhi. Material from Hindu and Jain temples was used in the construction of the 12th century building, one of the earliest Islamic monuments in India. A publisher's advertising flyer for the publication of this album offers some information regarding the work and the principles of selection of the material included: 'The views of which this work consists have been carefully selected by the celebrated architect and art connoisseur, Mr. James Fergusson, out of an extensive collection of negatives taken by Capt. Impey, and are pronounced by him to be the most interesting series, both from an architectural and a general point of view, which has ever been brought to England. They comprise views of the chief points of interest in Delhi, Agra, and their vicinity; as also of Muttra, Bindrabun, Deeg, Ulwur, Ambher, Jeypoor, Boondee, Jhalra-Puttun, &c.; together with plates illustrative of native caste, costume, and habits...People interested in Indian architecture will find in this work the means of a complete course of study, ranging from the ancient Hindoo and Jain temples, through the transition period, down to the most finished erections of the Mahometan Empire; and from the rise of the modern Hindoo style of ecclesiastical and domestic architecture to its most recent developments under the free-trade in ideas and the national intercommunication, which have followed the establishment of British rule...From an historical point of view the series is not less valuable, as it embraces some of the earliest and most important seats of Hindoo and Mahometan power, and many scenes to which a fatal interest has been imparted by the events of 1857 [The Indian Revolt of 1857].....To each photograph are affixed a few words of description, prepared under the supervision of Mr. Fergusson... ''On the fourth or western side, which is common to both enclosures, stands the principal part of the ancient edifice, which was converted into the [Quwwat-ul-Islam] Mosque. Pillars of various sizes have been used to complete the number, and the bracket capitals are sometimes plain instead of four-figured. The fluted cornice, the bell and chain, and the honeysuckle ornaments are identical with those at Chittore, Ahmedabad, &c."' | License: | http://www.bl.uk/services/copy/permission.html | Rights holder: | British Library | Subjects: | Mosques | Source: | Collect Britain | Creator: | Impey, Eugene Clutterbuck | Identifier: | http://www.collectbritain.co.uk/personal... | Language: | en-GB | Go to resource |
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