Scope and Contents

This collection consists of three photographs: I. Albumenized salt print from wet collodion negative, 22 x 28 cm., circa 1858, on original mount, 33 x 45 cm. Depicts a piece of sculpture from the Great Stupa at Amaravati; these sculptures were then known as the Elliot marbles. II. Albumenized salt print from wet collodion negative, 18 x 29 cm., circa 1858, on original mount, 34 x 46 cm. Depicts an Indian sculpture with a measuring device. III. Albumenized salt print from wet collodion negative, 25 x 37 cm., circa 1856, on original mount, 44 x 57 cm. Depicts the idgah and tomb at Ryakotta (Rayakottai).

Arrangement

One flat box.

Biographical / Historical

Linnaeus Tripe (1822-1902) was an official photographer for the British Government, employed to document Southern Indian archaeological remains before they further decayed. He photographed widely in southern India, including Rayakottai (Ryakotta), which was then a British stronghold. Around 1858 Tripe took this image of sculptures from the ruined Buddhist stupa at Amaravati, which was a large monument built approximately 2000 years ago in what is now Andhra Pradesh. The stupa was a mound-like structure made of brick, adorned with bas-relief medallions, paneled friezes made of limestone and freestanding sculpture. As time passed, the stupa fell into disrepair and was eventually buried under rubble. Eventually, the structure was excavated and some of the decorative elements were shipped to the British Museum, London. These pieces were referred to as the 'Elliot marbles' after Walter Elliot, the antiquarian, linguist and member of the Madras Council who recovered them.

Local Numbers

FSA A2001.10

Custodial History

Gift of Charles Isaacs and Carol Nigro, 2001.