Bombay on the Malabar Coast / Bombai sur la Cote de Malabar

Location

Country: UK
City: London
Place: Government Art Collection

This engraving shows Bombay (now Mumbai) harbour, with the East India Company’s ‘factory’ (or trading post) and the factory’s pier to the left of the composition, and Bombay Castle to the right. In the publication ‘Bombay to Mumbai’ (1997), Kalpana Desai discusses the scene in this print:

‘Although not strictly accurate in its topography, the print gives a graphic impression of the Fort area at this early date. The Garrison Church (later St. Thomas’ Church) seen beyond Bombay Green, is wrongly orientated and still had its bell-tower when this print was published. The hills in the distance, notably those to the left of the Factory, are much exaggerated. It nevertheless displays the rich variety of shipping at anchor in the harbour.’

Desai goes on to further explain the history of the city:

‘Under the rule of the East India Company, the town developed around Bombay Castle, mainly because the area adjoined the harbour. The [East India] Company’s first Government House was situated within the Castle. Plots of land to the north of the Castle were granted to the various communities of Indian merchants who then built houses, shops, and godowns [dockside warehouses].’

Jan van Ryne was a Dutch artist, who moved to London in 1750 and worked as a draughtsman and engraver in the city until his death ten years later. In 1754, Robert Sayer published six ‘Views of Early Settlements’, which were both drawn and engraved by van Ryne. The titles were: ‘Fort St. George on the Coromandel Coast’, ‘Bombay on the Malabar Coast’, ‘Fort William on the Kingdom of Bengal’, ‘The City of Batavia in the Island of Java’, ‘Island of St Helena’ and ‘The Cape of Good Hope’. Van Ryne presumably had no first-hand knowledge of these locations, but worked from the sketches of travellers who had. The prints were later reissued by Laurie and Whittle of 53 Fleet Street, London, in 1794.

Places

Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean, India, Mumbai

Subjects

rowing boat, topography, seascape/coastal scene, townscape/cityscape, smoke, hill, flag, cannon, harbour, church, tower, sailboat, ship

Materials & Techniques

engraving, coloured engraving

Artist

Jan van Ryne (c.1712 - c.1760)

Title

Bombay on the Malabar Coast / Bombai sur la Cote de Malabar

Date

published 1754

Medium

Coloured engraving

Acquisition

Purchased from the Trustees of the XI Marquis of Lothian, February 1946

Provenance

Collection of Philip Henry Kerr, 11th Marquess of Lothian (1882-1940); from whose trustees, purchased by the Ministry of Works in February 1946

GAC number

0/78D