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Lot Essay
In April 1785, Thomas Daniell and his nephew William embarked on a long journey from England to India, reaching the country in early 1786. They spent two years in the south, creating a first series of engravings of Calcutta in hope to raise sufficient funds to undertake an expedition to the north. Thomas produced drawings with the assistance of his nephew, who would become a talented engraver. In 1788, they sailed up the Ganges to Kanpur and then to Delhi, from where they explored remote regions such as the Garhwal mountains in 1789, being among the first Europeans to venture there.
The Daniells visited Bijaigarh on 8 January 1790 and whilst this drawing appears to have not been engraved by them (though the inscription on the verso may suggest it was intended to be published), it gives one an idea of the extent of the observation work carried out in the field preceding the engraving phase. The sheet depicts the entrance to a hill fortress in the north of the country, Bidzee Ghur, modern-day Bijaigarh in the present-day state of Uttar Pradesh. Although the fort is neither mentioned nor depicted in Oriental Scenery, William Daniell describes it in 1834 in The Oriental Annual, or Scenes in India, where he gives a view of the bridge (opposite p. 175) leading to one of the building's entrances, as well as more precise indications of its location: “The fort of Bidzee Gur is situated upon a lofty hill about sixty miles south-west of Benares”. He describes an impregnable fort, built at the top of a slope so steep that it is particularly easy to defend: “The fort itself is inconsiderable, being small but uncommonly strong”, as suggested by the narrow staircases against the rock as well as the hilly background. Although the building appears to have been demolished, its identification
The composition is the quintessence of the style that made the Daniells such a success: an angle that captures the beauty of the architecture while highlighting the flora and landscape, the scene brought to life by the depiction of inhabitants also helping to convey the scale of the buildings.
A fortress with similar architecture and an Urdu name, “Rotas Ghur”, is also depicted in several Daniell engravings, notably in a plate titled 'Kulnhuttea Gate, Rotas Gur' (The Oriental Annual, or Scenes in India, 1835) and in an overview plate in Oriental Scenery (vol. I, pl. 5, 'Raje Gaut, the principal Road up to Rotas Ghur, Bahar').
The Daniells visited Bijaigarh on 8 January 1790 and whilst this drawing appears to have not been engraved by them (though the inscription on the verso may suggest it was intended to be published), it gives one an idea of the extent of the observation work carried out in the field preceding the engraving phase. The sheet depicts the entrance to a hill fortress in the north of the country, Bidzee Ghur, modern-day Bijaigarh in the present-day state of Uttar Pradesh. Although the fort is neither mentioned nor depicted in Oriental Scenery, William Daniell describes it in 1834 in The Oriental Annual, or Scenes in India, where he gives a view of the bridge (opposite p. 175) leading to one of the building's entrances, as well as more precise indications of its location: “The fort of Bidzee Gur is situated upon a lofty hill about sixty miles south-west of Benares”. He describes an impregnable fort, built at the top of a slope so steep that it is particularly easy to defend: “The fort itself is inconsiderable, being small but uncommonly strong”, as suggested by the narrow staircases against the rock as well as the hilly background. Although the building appears to have been demolished, its identification
The composition is the quintessence of the style that made the Daniells such a success: an angle that captures the beauty of the architecture while highlighting the flora and landscape, the scene brought to life by the depiction of inhabitants also helping to convey the scale of the buildings.
A fortress with similar architecture and an Urdu name, “Rotas Ghur”, is also depicted in several Daniell engravings, notably in a plate titled 'Kulnhuttea Gate, Rotas Gur' (The Oriental Annual, or Scenes in India, 1835) and in an overview plate in Oriental Scenery (vol. I, pl. 5, 'Raje Gaut, the principal Road up to Rotas Ghur, Bahar').