Untitled (Sunrise over backbay, Bombay)

Signed A. F. Stewart and dated December 1909 (lower left)

December 1909

Watercolour on paper

6.25 x 9.5 in   |  16 x 24 cm

SEA, SKY AND SPIRES: SUNRISE OVER BACK BAY, BOMBAY, 1909

Executed in December 1909, this atmospheric watercolour by A F Stewart, R.I., captures a winter dawn over Back Bay, Bombay, likely sketched from a vantage near Chowpatty. Stewart’s delicate washes of blue and pale ochre evoke the quiet expanse of water at sunrise, against which the Gothic skyline of Bombay emerges in silhouette.

Clearly delineated are the Rajabai Clock Tower, the Bombay High Court, and the BB&CI (Western) Railway Headquarters—a cluster of Victorian Gothic architecture that, by the early 20th century, defined the city’s civic and mercantile identity. In the foreground, a yacht skims the shallow morning waters, its pale sail catching the light and adding contrast to the otherwise tranquil scene.

The composition belongs to the Romantic topographical tradition, privileging atmosphere and mood over architectural detail. Stewart’s restrained palette and subtle use of light reflect both his Royal Institute training and the period taste for watercolour sketches that conveyed immediacy and presence.

As a record, the work offers a rare and evocative glimpse of Bombay’s shoreline before major reclamations and urban redevelopment altered its coastline. It situates the city not only as a hub of High Victorian civic grandeur but also as a place of profound natural beauty, poised between sea and sky.

NON-EXPORTABLE

This lot is offered at RESERVE

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