Asia - North India; Verdussen - Mogol - 1725

Technical sheet

Title: Mogul. Map of northern and central India and the territories of the Moghul Empire, with part of the Deccan and Bengal.
Author: I. Peeters.
Engraver: Jacobus Harrewijn (1660–1727),
Designer: I. Peeters.
Publisher: Juan Bautista Verdussen.
Place: Antwerp.
Date: 1725.
Technique: Copperplate engraving on copper, executed in aquatint and line engraving, with period hand coloring along the borders, on the frame and on some ornamental elements.
Support: Wove paper.
Dimensions: Sheet 19 × 20 cm; impression 15.5 × 14 cm.
Composition: Single plate with a central vertical fold; title within a decorative cartouche at the bottom right, decorative emblem, two graphic scales and a graduated frame. Verso devoid of printed text.

Description

Geographic map titled Mogul, dedicated to northern and central India and the territories of the Moghul Empire, published in Antwerp in 1725. The depiction extends from the regions of Kabul and Kashmir to the Deccan, including the Indo-Gangetic basin, the Ganges plain, Gujarat and Bengal.
The dense toponymy identifies regions and inhabited centers through historical European names, including Lahore, Delhi, Agra and numerous inland localities. The main settlements are marked by small architectural profiles; the reliefs are rendered by sequences of mountains, while the rivers outline the geographical structure of the territory. The borders are highlighted by delicate hand coloring, with yellow fills along the frame.
A double line runs horizontally across the lower part of the map, separating the southern portion of the representation. The western and eastern coasts face the sea near the Gulf of Cambay and the “Golfe du Gange ou de Bengale.” In the bottom right, the title is gathered in a volute cartouche, crowned by an emblem with a solar motif and completed by two distance scales.

Historical-artistic note

The use of the name Mogol places the political identity of the described territories at the center of the representation. The map preserves historical nomenclature in which provinces, cities and regions are listed in forms adapted to the European language of the engraving.
The small format concentrates a wide amount of information: the typographic hierarchy distinguishes regional names from local toponymy, while urban symbols, reliefs and river networks accompany the reading. The decorative cartouche and the colorization of the borders confer a decorative quality to the plate without diminishing its geographical function.

Condition Report

Paper with slight yellowing, marginal browning and scattered foxing spots. Central vertical crease marked, with browning and small signs of abrasion, more evident in the upper margin. Wide margins on all four sides, with slight irregularities and modest peripheral abrasions.
Verso devoid of printed text, with transparency of the engraving and pronounced olive-brown halos corresponding to the colored borders on the recto. Impression clearly legible, with good definition of the toponymy and geographical elements; color preservation intact.