Cape Camorin taken from the Calcad

Thomas Daniell and his nephew William were at Calcad, in the extreme south of the present day state of Tamil Nadu, on 7-8 August 1792. From here Thomas Daniell drew the Siva temple at Calcad beneath the mountain of Mahendragiri, the last high peak in the Western Ghats, which is all of fifteen miles further south. Other versions in wash are in the Royal Institute of British Architects (no. 222 under the Daniell entry in the printed catalogue, dated 8 August 1792) and the India Office collections (WD237, a closer view). For reasons which are unclear, the Daniells seem not to have proceeded any further towards the Cape itself, but instead immediately retraced their steps northwards. The finished aquatint published 1 January 1804, the first plate in the fourth volume of Oriental Scenery called Twenty-four Landscapes, is inscribed 'Cape Comorin, taken near Calcad.' The present watercolour, sketched in India as indicated by the original inscription on the reverse, is more worked up than the wash drawings, but still shows considerable differences from the aquatint, in which the foreground tree has been replaced by a tall palmyra, the figures have been reworked, and the sky made threateningly stormy (see fig.1). For further analysis of the relationship between the Daniells' drawings and the aquatints, see the forthcoming study by J.P. Losty, A Picturesque Voyage? William Daniell's Journal and the Daniells' Vision of India, to be published by the British Library in 2006.