Great Dagon Pagoda...Rangoon - J Moore 1822

Title: View of the Great Dagon Pagoda and adjacent Scenery taken on the Eastern Road from Rangoon
Cartographer/Artist: Joseph Moore (Drawn by) / Theodore Fielding (Engraved by) Published: London: Kingsbury & Co., 1825–1826
Technique: Hand-colored aquatint engraving

Description: This evocative plate is one of the most iconic images from Joseph Moore’s Eighteen Views Taken at or near Rangoon. It depicts the magnificent Shwedagon Pagoda as it appeared in the early 1820s. The perspective is from the "Eastern Road," showing a lone British officer in the foreground looking toward the towering golden stupas, surrounded by lush tropical foliage and traditional Burmese structures.

Moore was a Lieutenant in the 89th Regiment, and his sketches provide a rare, first-hand visual record of the Burmese landscape and architecture during the British military campaign. The use of aquatint—a difficult and refined engraving process—gives the image a beautiful, painterly quality with soft tonal variations, particularly in the sky and the dense bamboo groves.

• Authenticity: Original early 19th-century hand-colored aquatint.

• Historical Context: Published as part of a subscription series to commemorate the events of the First Anglo-Burmese War (1824–1826).

• Details: Plate number 16 from the series.