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WHERE THE CITY MEETS THE SEA: SABATIER’S PANORAMIC VISION OF BOMBAY FROM MALABAR HILL, 1860

Hand-coloured lithograph on three conjoined sheets, overall image size approx. 440 x 1420 mm; sheet size 505 x 1480 mm; signed in the stone lower left ‘Sabatier,’ titled beneath the image in French and English, and imprinted “Paris. Lith. de Lemercier, rue de Seine, 57.”

This grandly scaled and meticulously rendered panorama captures... WHERE THE CITY MEETS THE SEA: SABATIER’S PANORAMIC VISION OF BOMBAY FROM MALABAR HILL, 1860

Hand-coloured lithograph on three conjoined sheets, overall image size approx. 440 x 1420 mm; sheet size 505 x 1480 mm; signed in the stone lower left ‘Sabatier,’ titled beneath the image in French and English, and imprinted “Paris. Lith. de Lemercier, rue de Seine, 57.”

This grandly scaled and meticulously rendered panorama captures a sweeping prospect of Bombay from the heights of Malabar Hill, looking eastward across the city and harbour during the ascendancy of British imperial infrastructure and mercantile dominance in western India. Derived from an original drawing by the Reverend W. H. Carpendale, an amateur artist and chaplain active in India during the mid-19th century, the composition was lithographed by the accomplished French draughtsman Léon Jean-Baptiste Sabatier and published by the atelier of Lemercier in Paris—arguably Europe’s foremost lithographic press of the period.

This view is not merely topographical: it is a visual document of transformation, capturing Bombay’s emergence as a preeminent colonial entrepôt following the completion of major land reclamation works and the expansion of its civic and port infrastructure. The foreground shows the wooded slopes of Malabar Hill and the bungalows of the European elite, while the middle distance reveals the Fort area, dockyards, and native quarters, all rendered with crisp architectural precision and atmospheric depth.

Examples of this rare lithograph—particularly in such fine condition—are seldom encountered on the market. A similar example is held in the collection of the British Library, London.

This lot is accompanied with:
W H Carpendale, Plan of Bombay, to accompany the Panoramic View from Malabar Hill. London: W H Carpendale, lithographed by W. Spreat, [c. 1864]

Engraved map with light blue hand-colouring, titled within a circular vignette upper right: Plan of Bombay, to accompany The Panoramic View from Malabar Hill, with authorial attribution: By Rev. W. H. Carpendale; signed in plate lower, W.H. Carpendale, delt and W. Spreat, Lith. London; printed on paper. The map spans from Salsette Island and the Mahim-Bandra region in the north to Karanja, Hog Island, and Rewas in the south, including maritime details such as shoals, channels, lighthouses, and anchorage points. Detailed with roads, hills, barracks, native towns, docks, and key infrastructure of mid-19th-century colonial Bombay.

Map size: 14.25 x 10.75 in (36.2 x 27.3 cm)
Framed size: 20.5 x 17 in (52 x 43.2 cm) approx.

A fine 19th-century British naval mapping of Bombay Harbour, prepared to accompany a panoramic lithograph issued by Carpendale depicting the view from Malabar Hill. This chart not only captures the expanding colonial port but also emphasises Bombay’s growing commercial and military significance under British rule. Carpendale, a former naval officer turned reverend, served in the Indian Navy and later compiled both pictorial and cartographic representations of the region, reflecting an insider’s perspective on imperial urbanism and strategic geography.

NON-EXPORTABLE

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