The Imperial Assembly of India at Delhi: the Viceregal Procession passing the Clock Tower and Delhi Institute in the Chandnee Chowk
Original 19th c. Engraving (possibly wood engraving) (Engraver unknown, initialled 'C.R" on the bottom left corner)
Printed in Illustrated London News supplement of 27 January 1877
28.5 x 40.5 cms / 11.1 x 16.1” app.
Non-exportable antiquity. Cannot be exported out of India.
(The work will be shipped without a frame. Framing is available on request.)
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The Imperial Durbar of 1877 was organized by Viceroy Lord Lytton to proclaim Queen Victoria as the Empress of India (Kaiser-i-Hind), symbolizing the formal transfer of power to the British Crown.
The scene depicts the extraordinary spectacle of Lytton's procession through the heart of Shahjahanabad: elephants, cavalry, infantry, standard-bearers, Indian princes and enormous crowds, with the Delhi Institute and the famous Chandni Chowk Clock Tower dominating the architectural setting.
The 1877 procession was deliberately routed through the old Mughal city. Later scholarship has noted the importance of the procession's movement through Chandni Chowk as a symbolic appropriation of the Mughal imperial landscape.
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Condition Report: In good condition overall: no major damage or tears.