Photographer: Myer brothers.
Wellington Pier, Mumbai, India.
A photograph credited to a photographer remembered only by the name of Myer Brothers, reveals regimental companies of the British Indian army providing a guard of honor service during the public inauguration ceremony of the Gateway of India on the 4th of December, 1924.
Built to commemorate the visit of the first English monarch to set foot in India: King George V and his consort Queen Mary, in 1911. The 26 meter high gateway was designed by Scottish architect George Witte. Also responsible for the construction of the present day city’s other well known colonial landmarks such as the Prince of Wales Museum, King Edward’s Memorial Hospital and the Institute of Science. With other accomplishments including the Karachi Port Trust Building in present day Karachi, Pakistan.
An avid admirer of Indo-Saracenic architecture like many other British architects of his era, Witte had fused the two separate styles of pre British era Muslim architecture and prevailing neo-Gothic trends to erect this gigantic gateway out of yellow basalt and concrete. Majestic in size and stature to be suitable for the welcome of royalty, viceroys and high ranking dignitaries of the British Empire.
The spot the Gateway was built, at the time, was known as Apollo Bunder. Originally a collage of crude wharfs that also served as a local fish market. The area, later, specially developed for the construction of the Gateway. Which from the time of its foundation to its inauguration by the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, Rufus Isaacs, the 1st Marquess of Reading, had taken nearly 11 years to complete – with the Gateway alone, taking up around 4 years.
This photo is a scanned copy of the book cover, The Last Empire: Photography in British India From 1855-1911. The original print likely lost.
