Calechut Celeberrimum Indiae Emporium [on sheet with] Ormus [and] Canonor [and] S. Georgii Oppidum Mina

Circa 1572–1617

Original hand-coloured copper engraving on paper

19 x 13.5 in (48.3 x 34.3 cm)

Calecut, Ormus & Cannanore — A Rare Hand-Coloured Composite View of Indian Ocean Trade Cities

Copper-engraved composite city view, finely hand-coloured, comprising a large panoramic view of Calicut (Kozhikode) above two smaller views of Ormus (Hormuz) and Cannanore (Kannur). Depicts fortified coastal cities, merchant shipping, indigenous vessels, maritime trade activity, palm groves, mountainous hinterland, elephants, and ceremonial figures. Printed on laid paper, within typographic borders.

A rare and visually commanding hand-coloured composite city view from Braun and Hogenberg’s Civitates Orbis Terrarum, depicting three pivotal centres of Indian Ocean commerce: Calicut, Ormus, and Cannanore. The dominant upper panel presents Calicut, celebrated in the Latin title as a pre-eminent emporium of India, animated with merchant fleets, indigenous craft, bustling quays, and a dense urban skyline framed by palms and distant mountains. Scenes of trade, ceremonial activity, and regional fauna — including elephants — reinforce the image’s ethnographic and mercantile character.

The lower panels extend this global maritime narrative, illustrating Ormus, the strategic Persian Gulf entrepôt linking Asian and Middle Eastern trade, and Cannanore, a fortified port integral to Portuguese and later Dutch activity along the Malabar Coast. Together, the three views articulate an early modern European vision of interconnected port cities sustaining long-distance exchange in spices, textiles, and luxury goods.

Published in the first great printed atlas of world cities, this engraving reflects the Renaissance synthesis of cartographic knowledge, travel literature, and imperial imagination. The composition balances documentary ambition with theatrical spectacle, serving both as a geographic record and visual propaganda celebrating global trade networks.

An exceptionally attractive survival of early urban iconography of South Asia and the wider Indian Ocean world, of strong appeal to collectors of city views, colonial history, maritime trade, and Renaissance cartography.

NON-EXPORTABLE

This lot is offered at RESERVE

This lot will be shipped in "as is" condition. For further details, please refer to the images of individual lots as a reference for the condition of each lot.