Indian Company School Cenotaph of Shah Jahan, Taj Mahal, Agra

An original early 19th-century watercolour painting, Indian Company School, Cenotaph of Shah Jahan, Taj Mahal, Agra.

An exquisite miniature Indian Company painting showing the cenotaph of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan at the Taj Mahal. The cenotaph is decorated with semi-precious stones inlaid into marble in the pietra dura technique, remarkably rendered here in minute detail.

The cenotaph of Shah Jahan lies alongside that of his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal (d.1632), for whom Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal. The actual tombs of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal are in a chamber directly beneath their cenotaphs.

This miniature depiction of the cenotaph has been corner mounted on to a backing sheet, apparently by the British 19th-century owner of the drawing, 'G.E.W.', who beneath the drawing describes the splendour of the pietra dura decoration: 'The cenotaph is of polished white marble superbly inlaid with precious stones representing an endless variety of flowers and ornaments. The colours are so exquisitely blended that it is impossible to detect without a close examination that they are not painted on the marble.'

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.

Please note the small size of this artwork.