A large and impressive view of the south end of Shah Jahan's cenotaph
Company School, Agra, circa 1820gouache on English paper, black margin rules, English inscription in lower border
540 x 756 mm.注脚Inscribed in pencil in the bottom margin: Elevation of the Tomb of Shah Jahan, One View of the Original in One Third of the Original in size, no. 7.
The epitaph on the cenotaph, written in nasta'liq script, reads: marqad-e motahhar-e a'la-hazrat-e ferdous-ashyani sahebqeran-e thani shahjahan taba tharahu sana 1076: 'The pure grave of His Most Exalted Majesty, Dweller in Paradise, Second Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction, Shah Jahan, Padshah, may its soil be fragrant! Year 1076 [AD 1666].

In this highly unusual architectural watercolour, Shah Jahan's cenotaph projects towards us against a dramatic black ground. Depictions of the pietra dura work at the Taj Mahal are relatively common, but an image such as this, which combines the familiar fine detail of the inlaid marble with double-point perspective and an effect of recession into pitch-black darkness, is otherwise unknown.