George Landseer (d.1878), 'The Mahomedan Temple at Bissasir Ghat', India, Benares, signed and dated 1861

Oil on canvas, signed, dated and inscribed 'George Landseer/ 1861/ Sketch of Ghat (indecipherable) Minarets/ Benares', 'Mahomeden Temple at Bissasir Ghat, Benares' inscribed on a label, on stretcher on reverse, framed

ex-Private US Collection

Stretcher bar impressions particularly to left edge with one minor chip and hairline crack, minor abrasions to upper edge and lower left corner, as viewed
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'Bissasir' ghat is not a recognised ghat in Benares but it is possible that Landseer's 'Bissasir' is referring to the Bisheshwar temple which originally stood where the Alamgir Mosque now stands. The Vishnu temple built by Beni Madhav Rao Scindia in the seventeenth century extended from Panchganga ghat to Ram ghat. A few decades later the temple was destroyed by Emperor Aurangzeb and the Alamgir or "Great Mosque" as it came to known was erected in its place.

A further version of this same mosque scene, executed by Landseer in pastel and watercolour on paper a year earlier, is in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (IS.41:10-1881).