Posted on: 21 April 2011

Interior of a Mughal Tomb, or Hammam, Furnished in the English Taste, ca. 1830–40
India (Delhi)
Opaque watercolor on paper

One genre of Company School painting served to record the wealth of the British in India, and their homes and furniture—as in this painting—were among the primary subjects. This painting also documents the unusual British practice of turning older buildings such as tombs or baths (as the title indicates) into residences. In this instance, the original structure is a domed octagonal chamber with an oculus. The dome itself has been decorated with a diaper-pattern grid. The walls below are articulated with recessed arches and a marble dado inlaid with red and green floral designs. The stone floor has been decorated in a grid pattern with central rosettes and a central inset that resembles a rug. To this basic structure the new owners have added a piano and bench in front of the window. In a niche in the arch behind the piano is a collection of their glass and stone objects

Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York


 View Post on Facebook

Comments from Facebook

Hammam is a tomb??????

No. What is being said is that the British turned Mughal Tombs or Hammams into residences. My reactions was exactly the same as your, when I read the top line.

Hamam is a bath.

This could actually have been a Hamaam earlier. The middle portion could have been a pool which may have been filled up later.As you can see it has a seperate tile pattern. The dome ends in a window to let steam escape.Hamaams were not just public bath-houses but used to have an intricate system of heating the floor.They were essentially heated chambers located on the first floor. (Certainly not for asthamatics) Firewood would heat up water and the steam was made to pass through pipe chambers to heat the flooring of the bath.The arched/ recessed alcove on the left could have been an extra water tank.Anyone who has enjoyed a traditional hamaam will tell you that the Turkish took the tradition of the Roman baths a step further with massages peculiar to them and the Byzantine influence brought in aromatic oils as well.

Well Julian you tend to forget that even at the height of British imperialism in India they ruled over only 3'5th of India. 2/5th was always princely India. It is more in Princely india that our indiginous architectural monuments still survive intact.Yes ASI is a Brit legacy and so is the Raj architectural heritage which is really impressive too but then that was amalgamation of styles what is now called Indo-Sarscenic.Heritage needs conservation at all events i agree.

Of course you must take interest who said you should'nt. You have taken a self exile from facebook.Yes we owe a lot to the Brits without doubt.For that matter so do the Greeks and the Chinese and the Egyptians all of whose art treasures grace your museums . But for the Brits that heritage would most certainly have got plundered and defaced in the countries of their origin. And pls I am not one to use expletives. As for the obsession with your country that sentiment was stronger in my parents' generation and the one before that.BTW how would you feel if you were in my shoes ? We are both the same age i presume.