View of Kabul with Its Hilltop Walls and Encampment, Steel Engraving, 1859

About this sheet

An original antique steel engraving, uncolored, titled "KABOEL." The flat-roofed city spreads across the plain at the foot of a steep hill on the left, whose ridge is followed by a long fortified wall with a tower partway up the slope. Behind it a high range of mountains rises in pale, sharp folds. A broad straight road leads from the foreground toward the city, lined by rows of tents and long encampments on both sides, where small lines of troops move and figures gather. In the foreground a group of tents stands at the left with horses and their handlers, a rider gallops along the road, and at the right a string of camels with riders and walkers passes along the right side of the road.

The plate is lettered below the image in Dutch: "KABOEL.", which translates as "Kabul". Beneath the caption, in a small script, is the publisher's imprint "Uitg. Gebrs Kraaÿ, Amsterdam.", short for uitgegeven (published) by the Kraay brothers of Amsterdam. No artist or engraver is named on the plate.

The plate comes from Britsch-Indië, beschreven naar de nieuwste bronnen (British India, described from the newest sources) by A. van Otterloo, published in Amsterdam by Gebroeders Kraay in 1859. The book is the first part, or Eerste Deel, of the publisher's series Vreemde Landen en Volken (Foreign Lands and Peoples), and its title page announces twenty-four steel engravings and a map. Steel plates held fine, even lines through long print runs, which suited illustrated books of this kind.

Kabul was occupied by British and Indian troops during the First Anglo-Afghan War of 1839 to 1842. The wide panorama of city, camp and mountains gives the plate a strong sense of place for a study or office wall.

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.