Lot Essay
Very unusually amongst works by the Daniells, this watercolour has no inscription on the reverse identifying the subject. It has been identified as the Atala Masjid, completed in 1408 and thus one of the earliest mosques in Jaunpur. The distinguishing features of the Atala Masjid are the double height cloister around the courtyard (part of which is visible here, to the left) and the two smaller pylons flanking the central one. The mosque today, however, is rather less decayed than it appears here: the top of the central pylon is now intact.
'26 November: Arrived Juanpore at 6am distant from Benares 18 Koass. Abt 9 oC set out & visited the Fort, Mosques, & other buildings of note. 2 December: Spent the morning at the Atouleah Kan Musjid. Un[cle] made a sketch of the East Gate. 3 December: Employed the whole day at the Atouleah Khan Musjid'(Journal).
'The Atoulah Kau Musjid is said to have cost seventy lacs of rupees, or upwards of eight hundred thousand pounds; and the view of this grand edifice fully justifies the supposition that the amount of the outlay has not been exaggerated.... The most gorgeous part of the interior is the central aisle, that rises to a great height, being divided into several stories, and covered by a vast dome which has a panelled ceiling ornamented with very elaborate decorations... The entrance to this fine mosque is very striking. The external doorway is flanked by two square masses of stone-work which rise, on either side, to the height of at least eighty feet' (The Oriental Annual, 1835, pp.179-80).
'26 November: Arrived Juanpore at 6am distant from Benares 18 Koass. Abt 9 oC set out & visited the Fort, Mosques, & other buildings of note. 2 December: Spent the morning at the Atouleah Kan Musjid. Un[cle] made a sketch of the East Gate. 3 December: Employed the whole day at the Atouleah Khan Musjid'(Journal).
'The Atoulah Kau Musjid is said to have cost seventy lacs of rupees, or upwards of eight hundred thousand pounds; and the view of this grand edifice fully justifies the supposition that the amount of the outlay has not been exaggerated.... The most gorgeous part of the interior is the central aisle, that rises to a great height, being divided into several stories, and covered by a vast dome which has a panelled ceiling ornamented with very elaborate decorations... The entrance to this fine mosque is very striking. The external doorway is flanked by two square masses of stone-work which rise, on either side, to the height of at least eighty feet' (The Oriental Annual, 1835, pp.179-80).