Delhi Durbar 1903. The amphitheatre before the arrival of the Viceroy.

A good original if somewhat faded photograph mounted on a single card album leaf (image size 8¼ x 5¾ ins, 21cm x 14.5cm) showing the amphitheatre with the shamiana and its empty thrones awaiting the arrival of the Viceroy, Lord Curzon. The photograph is titled along the card margin in ink in a contemporary hand Amphitheatre before the Viceroy’s arrival 1 Jan. 1903 . The delightfully unstudied image shows numerous bandsmen from English and Highland regiments chatting while their instruments lie on the grass, the thrones clearly visible on the shamiana dais. In the foreground officials chat with a lady holding a parasol. The stands are already filled with crowds. The reverse of the card has an attractively illustrated hunt dinner menu of the Jackal Club for 14th March. feb19/1