Karachi, View over the Town and Bay, Antique Steel Engraving, 1859
€ 190
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
1859
Mapmaker / artist
Published by Gebroeders Kraay
Publisher
Gebroeders Kraay, Amsterdam
Technique
Steel Engraving
Coloring
Uncolored
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-00114-20
What the condition grades mean
Excellent
Bright and clean, with no faults worth mentioning.
Very good
Only light signs of age, such as faint toning.
Good
Normal signs of age for a sheet of this period: toning, some foxing, small marks or neat old repairs.
Fair
Clear faults such as staining, tears or repairs, priced to match.
Every fault we see is written in the condition note, and the whole sheet is shown uncropped in the photos.
Condition
Complete sheet, edges straight and without nicks. Even age toning, lightly soiled along the right edge. A few small foxing spots in the margin.
About this sheet
An original antique steel engraving, uncolored, lettered "KURACHIE OF KARATSJI." From a garden slope the view looks over a town of flat-roofed houses, towers and slender columns to a wide bay, where sailing ships and small boats lie at anchor. A headland with a fort reaches into the water at the right, and a long range of mountains rises beyond the bay. In the foreground clumps of prickly pear cactus grow among the bushes. At the left a group of men in turbans and long robes stands talking, and at the right two figures in tall pointed headdresses and veils stand beside seated companions, while tall trees frame the right edge.
The plate is lettered below the image in Dutch: "KURACHIE OF KARATSJI.", which translates as "Kurachie, or Karatsji". Beneath the caption, in a small script, is the publisher's imprint "Uitg. Gebrs Kraaÿ Amstedam.", short for uitgegeven (published) by the Kraay brothers of Amsterdam. The imprint on this plate spells the city Amstedam, without the r. No artist or engraver is named on the plate.
It was issued in 1859 in A. van Otterloo's Britsch-Indië, beschreven naar de nieuwste bronnen, published in Amsterdam by Gebroeders Kraay as the opening volume of their series Vreemde Landen en Volken (Foreign Lands and Peoples). The title page describes the book as illustrated with twenty-four steel engravings and a map, and each view carries its own Dutch caption and the Kraay imprint.
Karachi grew into the chief port of Sindh after the British conquest of the province in 1843. The deep view over town and water makes a pleasing picture for anyone with a link to Karachi or to port cities.
This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed.
