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Lot Essay
The Fort at Rohtas in Bihar was taken from its former Hindu rulers by Sher Shah Suri in 1539. Subsequently used by the Mughals, it came into British possession in 1764. The Daniells visited it in February 1790; they were extremely impressed both by its dramatic location and by the ancient buildings within it, and they made an unusually large number of drawings of the site.
One of the buildings within the Fort of Rohtas which particularly attracted the Daniells was this small Hindu temple:
This building, composed of grey granite, is of singular construction and has the appearance of great antiquity. The Hindoos... could not, it would seem, resist the temptation of building in this place, the situation being delightful, and water and wood, with every other convenience, abundant (Oriental Scenery).
This watercolour has been put to some remarkable uses. It was used by Thomas Daniell as the inspiration for his design for a monument-cum-temple built in honour of Warren Hastings, commissioned by Major John Osborne, of Melchet Park in Wiltshire, in 1800; the monument, which no longer stands, contained an image of the former Governor General emerging from a lotus bloom. Much later, when the original temple at Rohtas was being restored in the 1950s, archaeologists used as their guide the aquatint that was based on this watercolour (Oriental Scenery, vol. I, no. 11, published January 1796; see Sutton, 1954, pp.64, 91).
For a note on the artist please see lot 4.
One of the buildings within the Fort of Rohtas which particularly attracted the Daniells was this small Hindu temple:
This building, composed of grey granite, is of singular construction and has the appearance of great antiquity. The Hindoos... could not, it would seem, resist the temptation of building in this place, the situation being delightful, and water and wood, with every other convenience, abundant (Oriental Scenery).
This watercolour has been put to some remarkable uses. It was used by Thomas Daniell as the inspiration for his design for a monument-cum-temple built in honour of Warren Hastings, commissioned by Major John Osborne, of Melchet Park in Wiltshire, in 1800; the monument, which no longer stands, contained an image of the former Governor General emerging from a lotus bloom. Much later, when the original temple at Rohtas was being restored in the 1950s, archaeologists used as their guide the aquatint that was based on this watercolour (Oriental Scenery, vol. I, no. 11, published January 1796; see Sutton, 1954, pp.64, 91).
For a note on the artist please see lot 4.