Constance Frederica Gordon Cumming (1837-1924)
Constance Frederica Gordon Cumming (1837-1924)

Sacred Bo Tree at the burial place of the Kandian Queens, Kandy (Sri Lanka)

Details
Constance Frederica Gordon Cumming (1837-1924)
Sacred Bo Tree at the burial place of the Kandian Queens, Kandy (Sri Lanka)
signed with initials, inscribed and dated 'Sacred Bo Tree at the Burial place of the / Kandian Queens Kandy May 74 / C.F.G.C.' (lower right)
pencil and watercolour heightened with white on paper
13 7/8 x 21 ¼in. (35.3 x 53.9cm.)
Provenance
Anon. sale, Christie’s, London, 25 May 1995, lot 182.

Brought to you by

Nicholas Lambourn
Nicholas Lambourn

Lot Essay

'... somewhat off the beaten track are the tombs of the Kandyan queens – not beautiful in themselves ... but ... glorified by the surrounding foliage. The red-tiled double roof, shaded by luxuriant palms loaded with nuts and blossom, each crown a study in green and gold and brown; gnarled old temple-trees filling the air with fragrance; and yellow-robed priests laying offerings of yellow flowers before small dome-shaped relic-shrines, beneath huge Bo-trees with spiritual-looking white stems and light foliage, which ... quivers ceaselessly even when there is scarcely a perceptible breath of air.' (Ibid, pp.247-8).

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