Important Notice

More Images

Comprising:
• The Qutb Complex (Delhi): No. 1 – THE KOOTUB, NEAR DELHI.- The north-east corner of the inner Enclosure.; No. 8 – THE KOOTUB.- The Façade on the south side of the outer Enclosure.; No. 9 – THE KOOTUB.- South-east corner of the Enclosure, with the base of the Minaret.; Captioned No. 12 – THE KOOTUB.- Marbel Tomb and Gateway on the south side. (4 images)
• Agra: Captioned No. 22.- AGRA. - ... Comprising:
• The Qutb Complex (Delhi): No. 1 – THE KOOTUB, NEAR DELHI.- The north-east corner of the inner Enclosure.; No. 8 – THE KOOTUB.- The Façade on the south side of the outer Enclosure.; No. 9 – THE KOOTUB.- South-east corner of the Enclosure, with the base of the Minaret.; Captioned No. 12 – THE KOOTUB.- Marbel Tomb and Gateway on the south side. (4 images)
• Agra: Captioned No. 22.- AGRA. - The Tomb of Itmad-ud-dowla
• Secundra (Sikandra): Captioned No. 31 – SECUNDRA. - Upper part of the Mausoleum of Akbar.; No. 29 – SECUNDRA.- The Mausoleum of Akbar – from the enclosure. (2 images)
• Bindrabun/Mathura: Captioned No. 35 – BINDRABUN.- Gate of Shet Lukhmeechund's Temple; No. 34. - BINDRABUN, NEAR MUURA.- Shet Lukhmmechand’s Temple. (2 images)
• Deeg: Captioned No. 38 – DEEG.- General view., No.37 – DEEG.-The Garden-Palace., No. 36 – DEEG, IN THE BHURTPORE TERRITORY.- The Garden-Palace. (3 images)
• Amber: Captioned No. 45. AMBER. - View of part of the City from the Palace.
• Rajgurh: Captioned No. 55. RAJGURH.-The Fort and Tank.
• Bundi (Boondee): Captioned No. 62. BOONDEE. - The Palace.
• Jhalra-Pattun: Captioned No.64. JHALRA-PATTUN.-The Great Temple
• Ethnographic Studies: Captioned No. 69 a) The Carriage of a Native Lady of Rank. b) Cheetas, or Hunting Leopards.
• Simla (Shimla): Captioned No. 71 a.) Simla - The Church and bazaar from the lower road. b) Simla - Looking towards the Jacko Hill. (2 images)

FROM QUTB TO BUNDI: IMPEY’S 1860S PHOTOGRAPHS OF MUGHAL AND RAJPUT MONUMENTS IN NORTH INDIA

This exceptional set comprises some of the most iconic 19th-century images by Eugene Clutterbuck Impey, whose photographs offer a vivid and systematic visual account of India’s architectural, cultural, and political landscapes during the high colonial period. Commissioned under the aegis of the Government of India and exhibited at the South Kensington Museum, Impey’s work represents a foundational moment in the history of archaeological and ethnographic photography.

Each plate attests to Impey’s technical mastery of perspective, lighting, and spatial composition, resulting in an archive that is both aesthetically considered and meticulously documentary. Predating the more systematic photographic undertakings of the Archaeological Survey of India, many of Impey’s images now reside in major institutional collections, including the British Library, the Royal Collection Trust, and the Victoria and Albert Museum.

An officer in the Bengal Civil Service and an accomplished amateur photographer, Impey occupies a critical place in the early photographic documentation of colonial India. His work, largely produced between 1862 and 1868, sits at the intersection of antiquarian inquiry, colonial governance, and visual anthropology. He belonged to the first generation of colonial officials who embraced photography not only as a scientific tool for recording built heritage but also as a means of visually representing the civilisational richness of India.

Impey’s most enduring contribution is his seminal publication, Photographs of the Architectural Remains of Hindostan (London: 1868), printed in collaboration with the India Office. This pioneering volume presented a broad photographic survey of India’s historic monuments—encompassing Mughal tombs, Hindu temples, Rajput palaces, and Islamic mosques—accompanied by descriptive texts blending archaeological observation with colonial historiography. His work complemented the parallel efforts of figures such as James Fergusson, Alexander Cunningham, and Colin Mackenzie, often serving as a visual counterpart to the emerging disciplines of Indian antiquarian and archaeological studies.

The present lot constitutes a representative cross-section of Impey’s oeuvre, comprising architectural views across Delhi, Agra, Amber, Bundi, Deeg, Jhalrapatan, Simla, and Rajgurh. Notable inclusions are views of the Qutb Complex, the Tomb of Itmad-ud-Daulah, Amber Fort, Deeg Palace, and Akbar’s Mausoleum at Sikandra—each rendered with a profound sensitivity to structural form and environmental context. The set also features rare ethnographic images, such as a zenana bullock carriage and cheetahs with their handlers, reflecting Impey’s wider engagement with the social textures of colonial India.

What distinguishes Impey’s photographs is their compositional clarity, restrained tonal balance (often achieved under the exacting conditions of wet collodion processing), and measured geometry. These are not casual snapshots but deliberately composed studies of architecture and setting, characterised by an empiricist aesthetic that eschews overt theatricality or romanticism. His visual language, while aligned with documentary intent, retains a nuanced appreciation for the picturesque and the sublime.

Impey frequently juxtaposes monumental ruins with contemporary life—such as marketplaces abutting Bundi Palace or the reflective pools surrounding Deeg—thereby highlighting the continuity of lived heritage. His photographs exemplify the broader colonial ambition to catalogue and interpret India’s past within an imperial framework, yet they also betray a quiet admiration for the ingenuity and syncretism of Indian design traditions.

Institutionally, Impey’s prints were among the earliest to be accessioned into museum and archival collections. They were widely circulated to the South Kensington Museum (now the V&A), the India Office Library, and colonial exhibitions in London and Paris and were included in early governmental reports on Indian antiquities. In this way, Impey functioned not only as a photographer but as an architect of the colonial visual archive.

Today, Impey’s photographs are valued for their dual function as historical documentation and artistic expression. They continue to support research in architectural history, visual culture, and colonial studies and are held in the collections of leading institutions such as the British Library, the Royal Collection Trust, the Alkazi Foundation for the Arts, and numerous university archives worldwide.

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