Page 250 - Eye of the beholder

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VIEW ON CHITPORE ROAD CALCUTTA: THOMAS DANIELL
Plate 2 from the second set of Thomas and William Daniell's 'Oriental Scenery', Aquatint coloured The Chitpore Road in Calcutta led north through the Bara or Great Bazaar, and was the main thoroughfare and market for the Bengali community in the city. Various wealthy Indians lived in this area like '.a native Bengal merchant.' whose residence has a verandah overlooking the street and an open roof-top pavilion looking towards the temple in the distance.
The painting makes for an interesting study. The quality of picturesquness manifests, made evident in the peeled off plaster on the side wall of the building adjacent to the street. On the opposite side of the street in contrast to the rich palatial houses of the Bengali merchant, stands a hovel. Next to it is a dead tree standing amidst the pile of mud mound. The hut has a series of flights in front, leading to a make shift verandah shaded by a thatched roof supported on a thin stick. On the shallow platform thus shielded by the thatched roof sits a couple. The man is bare bodied with just a cloth draped around his waist and the woman is dressed in the Punjabi style of clothes and not in a Bengali saree.
The building dominating the street is the palatial home of a Bengali merchant, having a projecting jharokha or a balcony, which is designed to contain three multi-foliated arched openings in front and a similar single one at the sides. An occupant of the house can be seen seated here, while clothes are draped over the balcony perhaps drying in the hot sun. This remains a typical feature in houses across the country even today. Above the house is a pillared pavilion depicting two occupants. The pillars supporting the terrace above are composed with lotus petal capitals and a simple plain base. The shafts of the columns are plain and uninteresting. The terrace above it has a parapet was composed of short baluster pillars. Gracing the four corners is the finial like elements that carries the eye vertically upwards.
Adjacent to this house is another house, which in its external manifestation appears to be a middle class home of a merchant. The side walls of the building have cracks and on the side the plaster has fallen off considerably. The facade of the house constitutes of three multi- foliated arched openings, while the side of the building has a simple arched one at the first floor level. The ground floor apparently has shops and a group of merchants are gathered here and are depicted in conversation. The projecting platform on which they sit in front is shaded by a deep wide awning resting on several poles. Above the awning is a balcony unprotected by a parapet. The awning is made up of stitched pieces that have become discoloured with consistent exposure to the harsh sunlight.