Bidspirit auction | M. ABDULLAH OF DELHI (19TH

M. ABDULLAH OF DELHI (19TH CENTURY), A PANORAMIC BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF MECCA, DATED 1845. - A nineteenth-century watercolour with gouache highlights on paper depicting a panoramic bird's-eye view of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The composition is centred on the Masjid al-Haram and the Kaaba, capturing the dense urban fabric of the city and its surrounding mountainous terrain. Specific landmarks identified in the inscriptions include the Abu Qubays fort, Jabel Abu Qubays, the Fort of Hazrat Umar, and the markets of Safa and Marwa. The work is executed in a detailed topographical style characteristic of the Delhi or Company School, produced by Indian artists for travellers and pilgrims. The work is inscribed in the lower left in English: M.ABDOOLLAH PAINTER DELHI 1845. The lower right margin features Urdu/Persian calligraphy stating: عمل محمد عبد اللہ نقشہ نویس دہلی سنہ ۱۸۷۵ء (Work of Muhammad Abdullah, map-writer of Delhi, year 1875). The lower centre margin contains further Urdu/Persian descriptive calligraphy: نقشہ شہر مکہ معظمہ و حرم شریف و قلعہ ابو قبیس و جبل ابوقبیس و قلعہ حضرت عمر و بازار صفا و مروہ (Map of the city of Makkah al-Mukarramah and the Sacred Sanctuary and Abu Qubays Fort and Abu Qubays Mountain and the Fort of Hazrat Umar and the market of Safa and Marwa). Approximately 61.5 x 32cm