{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O120295"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O120295/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AC5033/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AC5033/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AC5033","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O120295/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O120295","accessionNumber":"53262","objectType":"Photograph","titles":[{"title":"The Marble Tomb of Aheik Selim Chisti","type":"assigned by artist"}],"summaryDescription":"This photograph shows the tomb of Shaykh Salim Chishti. It is situated within the courtyard of the Jami Masjid (mosque) at Fatehpur Sikri. The city, near Agra in north-west India, was built by the Mughal Emperor Akbar (ruled 1556-1605).  \r\n\r\nSalim Chishti was a Sufi saint who had accurately predicted the birth of Akbar’s son. His tomb (excluding the porch) is 14.63 metres square. Made of white marble, it contrasts with the red sandstone of the surrounding mosque. The tomb has some of the finest examples of marble work in India. The intricately carved screens (‘jalis’) which line the four sides are the work of skilled Gujarati craftsmen. There is a closer view of them in another of Bourne’s photographs (Mus. no. 53263).\r\n\r\nThe British photographer Samuel Bourne lived and worked in India between 1862 and 1869. During this time he toured the Himalayas and travelled through the subcontinent, photographing its landscape, architecture and historical sites. He set up a studio in Simla with Charles Shepherd and sold his prints sold to an eager public both in India and Britain.","physicalDescription":"This photograph shows the tomb of Shaikh Salim Chisti situated within the courtyard of the Jami Masjid at Fatehpur Sikri.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Bourne, Samuel","id":"A8171"},"association":{"text":"photographer","id":"AAT25687"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[],"techniques":[{"text":"Wet collodion process","id":"AAT133299"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Albumen print from a wet collodion glass negative","categories":[{"text":"Photographs","id":"THES48910"},{"text":"Architecture","id":"THES48993"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"SSEA","id":"THES48598"},"images":["2006AC5033"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"003","id":"THES403839"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"photograph","id":"AAT46300"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"India","id":"x29790"},"association":{"text":"photographed","id":"x30151"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1865","earliest":"1860-01-01","latest":"1869-12-31"},"association":{"text":"photographed","id":"x30151"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Length","value":"28.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"photograph","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"23","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"photograph","note":""},{"dimension":"Length","value":"32.9","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"photograph","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"23","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"photograph","note":""},{"dimension":"Length","value":"33","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"mount","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"26.7","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"mount","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"Signature and negative number in bottom right hand corner.","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":""}],"objectHistory":"This photograph was initially part of the photographic collection held in the National Art Library. The markings on the mount are an indication of the history of the object, its movement through the museum and the way it is categorised.\r\nThis window mount is similar to others in the collection. It has a label with red edging with the title of the photograph. This type of label and mount suggests inclusion in an exhibition, possibly the Paris exhibition of 1867 or the subsequent South Kensington exhibition for which no catalogue has been found.\n\nHistorical significance: This photograph shows the tomb of Shaikh Salim Chisti situated within the courtyard of the Jami Masjid of the city of Fatehpur Sikri.\r\n\r\nIt has a square plan measuring 14.63 meters on each side. Made of white marble it contrasts with the red sandstone of the surrounding mosque. The main hall contains the sarcophagus of the saint and has a small central dome over it. The tomb was completed in 1580-81 and in the original design the veranda (inside the outer marble screens) and the dome were of red sandstone to harmonise with the other buildings in the courtyard. The outer marble screens enclosing the verandah were added in 1606 by Qutbu’d-din Khan, Jahangir’s foster brother. It is not certain whether the marble eaves and ornate brackets were added later or were part of the original structure.\r\n\r\nThe tomb has some of the finest  examples of marble work in India. The intricately carved marble screens or jalis which line each of the four sides and the elegant corbels, the curves of which are also filled with have fine jali work, are the work of skilled Gujarati craftsmen. The style of the tomb is influenced by Indo-Islamic architectural traditions of the mosques of Sidi Sayyid and Shah Alam in Ahmedabad.\r\n\r\nThe dome was originally covered in a veneer of red sandstone, which was replaced with a marble veneer in 1866 by the district magistrate of Agra. The photographer, Samuel Bourne, took this image that same year but after the work had been done. \r\n\r\nNeed to check whether there is earlier photographic or other evidence of red dome.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Photograph of Fatehpur Sikri, India by Samuel Bourne, 1860s.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Alfieri, B.M, Islamic Architecture of the Indian Subcontinent, London 2000,"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Archaeological Survey of India, Fatehpur Sikri, New Delhi, 2002"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Rizve, S.A & Flynn, V.N, Fathpur Sikri, 1975"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Asher, C, B, Architecture of Mughal India, The New Cambridhe History of India, , CUP, 1992"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[{"text":"India","id":"x29790"}],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["53262"],"accessionNumberNum":"53262","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":null,"otherNumbers":[{"type":{"text":"Negative number","id":"THES50273"},"number":"1265"}],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-08-06","recordCreationDate":"2006-01-09","availableToBook":true}}