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Lots 1-47 are sold framed unless indicated otherwise. The Daniells in India Of the great European artists working in the Indian subcontinent in the 18th and 19th Centuries, it was undoubtedly the Daniells, Thomas (1749-1840) and his nephew William (1769-1837), who played a pre-eminent role in recording and documenting the country for European eyes. Their seven-year tour of India from 1786 to 1793, and the subsequent publication of their work brought to the public in Britain an unrivalled view of the scenery and architecture of this fabled and exotic land. Other artists, notably William Hodges (1744-1797), who made a tour up the Ganges in 1780-1783, provided inspiration for the Daniells. Encouraged by Hodges' work, the Daniells set off from England in 1786 to make their fortune in India: a trip up the Ganges, 1788-91, a circular tour around Mysore from Madras, 1792-9 and finally, on their return journey to England in 1793, visiting Bombay and its temple sites, sketching, drawing and painting as they travelled. Arriving back in London in 1794, the Daniells turned this substantial body of material into finished watercolours and oil paintings, which they then exhibited. On the basis of that work alone, the Daniells would have secured a prominent place in the history of Anglo-Indian art, but they then embarked on a grand and expensive project to translate their watercolours into print. From 1795 to 1808, they concentrated on producing aquatint prints for their views of India, a work they entitled Oriental Scenery. Through exhibitions of their oil paintings at the Royal Academy and British Institution in London in the early 1800s, they captured the attention and interest of the British public, focusing on this exotic part of the British Empire.

Thomas Daniell, R.A. (1749-1840)

A distant view of Bijaigarh, Uttar Pradesh taken from the bridge near the village of Mau

Details

Thomas Daniell, R.A. (1749-1840)
A distant view of Bijaigarh, Uttar Pradesh taken from the bridge near the village of Mau
inscribed 'View of Bidzee Gur taken near the Village Mow.' (on the artists' original mount, overmounted) and further inscribed and numbered 'N.78 Distt. View of Bidzee Ghur taken a little below the Bridge-' (on the reverse of the artists's original mount)
pencil and watercolour within a black-line border, on the artist's original mount
21 x 29¾ in. (53.3 x 76.6 cm.)

Provenance

India Observed, The Collection of the Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company; Christie's, London, 24 September 1996, lot 33.

Exhibited

London, Commonwealth Institute, The Daniells in India 1786-1793, 26 August-25 September 1960, no. 62.
Washington, Smithsonian Institution, The Daniells in India, November 1962, no. 28.
London, Spink, Adventurers in Eighteenth Century India: Thomas and William Daniell, 12-29 November 1974, no. 48.

Special notice

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Lot Essay

Bijaigarh is the hill fort in the region of South Benares and Chunar, that was occupied by Raja Chait Singh and his forces in the summer of 1781 during his infamous tussle with the Governor General, Warren Hastings after refusing to pay what he considered as an unwarranted levy. Attempting to arrest the Raja in Benares, the Governor General and his party had met with greater resistance than they were ready for and were forced to effect a rapid and undignified retreat to Chunar. The Raja's forces were then stationed at the nearby fort of Pateta and then at Bijaigarh, his last place of refuge, from which they were eventually flushed by British reinforcements.

The Daniells visited Bijaigarh on 8 January 1790 and this present watercolour was begun a couple of days later on the 10 January from a spot near the village of Mau:

'Un[cle] & self spent most of the Day abt the Gate & bridge near Mow. Abt 1/2 a Mile below the bridge the bed of the River being very rocky the Water falls abt 40 ft. On our return from the fall I perceived very plainly the footstep of a Tiger that had come to the River to drink' (Journal).

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