Important Notice

Lettered with the title 'Mosque at Lucknow' and 'Drawn by Henry Salt. Engraved by L Hill. No VI. London. Published by William Miller, Albemarle Street, May 1. 1809'.

Some plates have the engraver's name mentioned as “L” or “I” Hill, which is an error. The actual engraver's name is John Hill.

This aquatint was taken from plate 6 of Henry Salt's Twenty-Four Views in St. Helena, the Cape, India, Ceylon, the Red Sea, Abyssinia ... Lettered with the title 'Mosque at Lucknow' and 'Drawn by Henry Salt. Engraved by L Hill. No VI. London. Published by William Miller, Albemarle Street, May 1. 1809'.

Some plates have the engraver's name mentioned as “L” or “I” Hill, which is an error. The actual engraver's name is John Hill.

This aquatint was taken from plate 6 of Henry Salt's Twenty-Four Views in St. Helena, the Cape, India, Ceylon, the Red Sea, Abyssinia and Egypt.

The Bada Imambara complex in Lucknow has the Grand Mosque, which dates to the 18th century. Viscount Valentia (George Annesley) wrote that it was "built of brick but is completely covered with so brilliant a chunam, that it is impossible to bear the lustre when the sunshine full upon it. The tops of the minarets and of the domes are gilt. It forms one side of a square. The other sides are composed of a palace, celebrated for a deep and wide well, the Imaunbarah ... and three light, fantastic gateways, with arches similar to those in the Mosque. In the centre is an Asiatic Garden, divided into regular beds, by large walks of stone."

On June 14, 1780, Henry Salt - an artist, adventurer, diplomat, and collector of antiquities—was born in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England. Following his training with landscape painter Joseph Farington and portraitist John Hoppner and after studying watercolour under John Glover, on 3 June 1802 he went on an influential eastern trip as a secretary and draughtsman to British peer and politician George Annesley, Viscount Valentia (afterwards Lord Mount Norris). He visited the Cape, India, Sri Lanka, and (in 1805) Abyssinia, returning to England on 26 Oct. 1806.

During this trip he produced several drawings that were included in Lord Valentia's Voyages and Travels to India, which was published in 1809. Later, Salt's own drawings were included with hand-colored aquatints by D Havell and J Bluck in a volume titled Twenty-Four Views in St. Helena, the Cape, India, Ceylon, the Red Sea, Abyssinia and Egypt, exhibiting his skill and craftsmanship.

Lord Valentia kept the originals of all these sketches, and upon Salt's death, he also kept possession of the copper plates. The plates exhibit remarkable creativity by both Salt and his engravers, and their format and style of presentation are reminiscent of Thomas and William Daniell's renowned work Oriental Scenery (1795-1808).

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