Osian's Auction Catalogue Creative India Series 1 Bengal | December 2011

T Homas d aniell 1749 – 19 March 1840 the Old Fort Ghaut from ‘Views of Calcutta’, no.6, 1787 Etching & aquatint by and after T. Daniell, 1787 Inscribed in English ‘T DANIELL. Calcutta. 1787 No. 6’ l.l. 13.8 x 20.9 in (35.1 x 53.0 cm) Condition Good, previously restored at various points in the top half of the aquatint. Provenance Private Collector, Kolkata. ` 80,000 – 120,000 US$ 1,600 – 2,400 3 1780 1790 1800 1810 1820 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2011 “The Old Fort Ghat adjoined the Old Fort (compare the bastion in no.4). Thomas Twining described the scene when he arrived in 1792: ‘I quitted the boat at a spacious sloping ghaut or landing-place, close to the north-west angle of the old fort. The lower part of the slope went some way into the water, and was crowded with natives, men and women, bathing with their clothes, or rather cloths on, and which they dexterously contrived to change under water, without embarrassment to themselves or the bystanders..’ The Old Fort had now been replaced for military purposes by the New Fort and was appropriated to the reception of the goods of the company, and the merchandise of the custom-house, the direction of which was within the walls. Upon the custom-house wharf, extending from one end to the other, I saw immense piles of goods of various sorts, imports and exports.’” [Archer, Mildred [1980]. Early Views of India: The Picturesque Journeys of Thomas and William Daniells, 1786 - 1794. London: Thames & Hudson; p.27] Illustrative reference Archer, Mildred [1980]. E arly Views of India: The Picturesque Journeys of Thomas and William Daniells, 1786 - 1794. London: Thames & Hudson; p.26, plate 9 [‘The Old Fort Ghaut’ (From ‘Views of Calcutta, No.6, 1787)]