Indian Company School Qutb Minar, Delhi

An original 19th-century watercolour painting – Indian Company School, Qutb Minar, Delhi.

An exquisite Indian Company painting showing the Qutb Minar in Delhi.

Built of red and buff sandstone and eloquently carved with inscriptional bands, the Qutb Minar is the tallest masonry tower in India. Mostly built between 1199 and 1220, Qutab-ud-din Aibak initiated the construction of the victory tower after defeating Prithviraj Chauhan, the last Hindu ruler of Delhi before the Ghurid conquest of the region. He only managed to finish the first level but successive dynasties of the Delhi Sultanate continued the construction, and, in 1368, Firuz Shah Tughlaq rebuilt the top parts and added a cupola. The tower marks the beginning of Islamic rule in the region.

This painting is a fine example of an Indian Company painting, produced for Western (especially British) patrons in India in the 19th century, many of whom were working for the East India Company. It displays the striking hybrid techniques which led to the categorisation of the 'Company' style as a School. While incorporating traditional elements from Rajput and Mughal painting, they were given a more 'western' appearance through their use of perspective and rounded modelling, as opposed to the more decorative, 'flatter' styles that had gone before.

On cream wove paper with blind stamp to the paper at the lower left corner that reads 'Wynne Bath' around a central crown.

Please note that this painting is of a larger size (sheet 22 x 18.5cm) rather than miniature.