Old property works, priceless photographs, sketches, precious stones, gold medals recovered from a colonial-era warehouse that was closed for decades
Old property works, priceless photographs, sketches, precious stones, gold medals recovered from a colonial-era warehouse that was closed for decades
During the years of World War I a battle-plane landed in the Eden Gardens of Kolkata, women taking part in a cremation at the city’s Keoratala crematorium, the water body surrounding the Calcutta High Court, the one on the Hooghly River before the iconic Howrah Bridge. Bridges and hundreds of such never-before-seen photographs and sketches have recently been found from an old warehouse in Kolkata.
The warehouse of the office of the Administrator, General Manager and Official Trustee of West Bengal, which lay in neglect, had uncovered not only priceless paintings but also pieces of gold, silver and precious jewellery. “We have recovered photographs, sketches and other valuables worth crores of rupees,” said Biplab Roy, the current administrator general and official trustee of West Bengal. Hindu.
The new Secretariat building, housing the office of the Administrator General of West Bengal and the Official Trustee, is located at the corner of Strand Road on the banks of the Hooghly River and next to the neo-Gothic structure of the Calcutta High Court. Shri Rai said that the office godown located on the ground floor of the new secretariat building was not open for decades.
Recently documents and artifacts from the ground floor warehouse were brought to the 10th floor of the building, where they were sorted one by one.
Property, property without legal heir
The Office of the Administrator General and Official Trustee of West Bengal, today is responsible for the maintenance of hundreds of prominent properties and large parcels of land in Kolkata and the rest of the state. According to the laws of British India, any property or property that had no legal heirs would pass into the hands of the Administrator-General. This well could be how the valuables landed in the warehouse.
Mr. Roy elaborated a little in the history of the Office of the Administrator General and Official Trustee of West Bengal. Mr Roy said that the first Act relating to the Administrator General of Bengal was passed in 1874, which was later amended by another Act in 1913. There was also an Official Trustees Act, which was in effect from the 1870s. In 1916, the Office of Administrator General and Official Trustee were merged and the Office of Administrator General and Official Trustee came into existence and has continued to function since then.
Priceless photos restored, framed
All the recently discovered images in the warehouse have been painstakingly preserved, restored and prepared. Mr Roy, a judicial officer holding the rank of a district judge, is particularly fond of a sketch by British military officer and artist James Hunter. a sketch titled Delhi Gate of Bangalore by James Hunter, dating back to 1792, has been carefully preserved in one of the office’s wardrobes.
“We are planning to put up an exhibition of these images titled ‘The City and the People’ at the Town Hall in Kolkata. Also subject to the permission of the government, we are ready to sell some copies of these priceless photographs,” said Mr. Roy. He explained that most of the photographs were taken by unknown British photographers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries at the Hooghly Riverfront, New Market, the site of the black hole, and the city’s major markets and streets.
“Many pictures had become brittle. Getting it back and restoring it was a big challenge. We took the help of experts from the Indian Museum and the city’s leading photo studios so that these images can be retrieved, restored and brought to the people of the city,” said Mr. Roy.
Senior news photographer Shubham Dutta, who has been associated with the restoration of these pictures, said that these pictures accurately narrate the past of the people and our beloved city. “Although there is an element of an orientalist look, the beauty and historical significance of these photographs is immense,” said Mr. Dutta.
Mr Dutta and Mr Roy reported in one of the photographs recently recovered titled ‘Silversmith at Work’ that workers’ heads have been shaved in a special way, most likely without silver dust accumulating in their hair.
search for artifacts
The process of discovery was as fascinating as the artifacts themselves.
Mr. Rai said that the warehouse located on the ground floor of the new secretariat building was covered with dust several feet. “I was always curious what would happen in old records, documents that could have historical significance. So, at the end of October 2021, we started looking at what was kept in the warehouse,” he said. There was no electricity in the godown and the officers and employees started checking the records day by day under the light of torches. While records of thousands of property deeds and documents were found, one after the other these pictures and artifacts started appearing.
In the office of the Administrator General and Official Trustee of West Bengal, which is under CCTV surveillance, Mr Roy has also preserved some precious stones, a small diamond and ruby, which were found from the rubble. There are gold buttons and medals, silver and gold sheathed swords, beautiful crockery which have been recovered.