Photo 1002/4(199)

Genre: Architectural Photography

Credited to 'Dr Simpson', but possibly taken by Beglar. The museum was founded by Alexander Meyrick Broadley (ICS), who acquired much of the collection during his travels to archaeological sites in Bihar in the early 1870s. His archaeological work and some of the pieces brought to the museum, are described in his 'The Buddhistic Remains of Bihar' (Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, vol 41, part 1, no. 3, 1872, pp. 209-312). In 1891, it was decided to transfer the collections to the Indian Museum in Calcutta. The figure standing on the verandah in this view is probably Broadley.

See also Frederick M. Asher, 'The Former Broadley Collection, Bihar Sharif' ('Artibus Asiae', vol. 32, 1970, pp. 105-124). Ashley discovered an album containing prints from this series in the National Library, Calcutta, annotated in Broadley's hand and describing in a number of cases the provenance of the pieces. This particular photograph is captioned:'View of the museum from the south. On the east side is seen the colossal Varaha taken from the Burgaon Tank.' For a closer view of the sculpture, see print 194. This piece is now on display in the Indian Museum (accession no. A24126/3961).

Subjects = British colonial architecture; Broadley Collection; European architecture in India; Indian sculpture; museum objects; museums and galleries

Location = Bihar; Bihar Sharif; India