LUCKNOW. An early carte de visite of the Chota Imambara c 1870

A good sepia toned carte de visite photograph, 4 x 2½ins,of the Chota Imambara assembly hall built 1838 by Nawab Muhammad Ali Shah, also used as a mausoleum for him and his mother. A great example of late Mughal architecture. The cdv is by Dady Limjee Panday, View & Portrait Photographer, Bombay and as well as the photographer’s credit on the verso there is a contemporary printed label reading FYZABAD, Emambara Hossunabhoy in Lucknow No 39. Panday opened his studio in 1870 and this image, together with a few others we have to offer, probably dates from soon after that date.       nov25/1