Lot Essay
A version of the present view of Chowringhee Road from No. XI Esplanade was reproduced as plate 26 in the posthumous publication of lithographs Views of Calcutta and its Environs, London, 1848. Thought to have been executed during D'Oyly's final years in Calcutta, prior to 1838, this aspect of the city is considered 'rare among all these views' as it is shown 'across the Dhurrumtollah Tank at the north-east corner of the Maidan' (J. Losty, Calcutta City of Palaces, London, 1990, p.115). The adjutant storks, depicted here, were the scavengers of Calcutta.