1900 Raja Ravi Varma Press View of Islamic Pilgrimage Sites: Mecca, Median, Jerusalem

This is a rare c. 1900 Raja Ravi Varma chromolithograph view of the primary Islamic pilgrimage sites: Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem, as well as 6 secondary sites, and 24 tertiary sites. The view was printed in Lonavala, India, by a Raja Ravi Varma Press, one the first Indian owned and operated presses on the Subcontinent.

A Closer Look

Mecca and the Kaaba (ٱلْكَعْبَة‎ ) take front and center, surrounded by the Dome of the Rock (قبة الصخرة‎) in Jerusalem on the left and Medina (المدينة المنورة‎) on the right. Other major mosques and shrines appear above and below and integrated into the first border. The whole is surrounded by Islamic borderwork decorated with Arabic text. Each pilgrimage site is labeled in Arabic. It bears an Arabic date, 1289 Hijri, roughly 1872 - presumably the date of the original artwork, as the lithograph itself could not have been produced any earlier than 1899, when the Raja Ravi Varma press moved to Lonavala.

Chromolithography

Chromolithography, sometimes called oleography, is a color lithographic technique developed in the mid-19th century. The process involved using multiple lithographic stones, one for each color, to yield a rich composite effect. Oftentimes, the process would start with a black basecoat upon which subsequent colors were layered. Some chromolithographs used 30 or more separate lithographic stones to achieve the desired product. Chromolithograph color could also be effectively blended for even more dramatic results. The process became extremely popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when it emerged as the dominate method of color printing. The vivid color chromolithography produced made it exceptionally effective for advertising and propaganda imagery.

Publication History and Census

This view was printed in the Lonavala workshop of the Raja Ravi Varma Press, Maharashtra, India. It is extremely rare with no other examples known.