The Mosque of Aurangzeb and Panchganga Ghat from the Ganges, Benares.
Painting
December 1860 (made)
December 1860 (made)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
William Simpson was born on 28 October 1823 in Glasgow. Following a seven-year apprenticeship with a specialist lithographic firm, he moved to London in February 1851 and found employment with Day and Sons. In 1859 the firm commissioned Simpson to visit India and make drawings for a book illustrating well-known places associated with the 1857-58 uprising. Thus began Simpson's long association with India, and the first of his four visits to the subcontinent over the next twenty-five years. During these journeys he made numerous rapid pencil drawings in sketchbooks, often heightened with colour washes. Many formed preparatory studies for his finished watercolours, most of which he worked up after returning to London. The plan was for Day and Son to select 250 of these finished watercolours to be lithographed as illustrations in the projected volume. While Simpson was away in India, however, Day and Son had been drifting into debt. In 1867, before it finally went into liquidation at the end of the year, he was made a company shareholder as part payment. But, as he expressed it, 'the great work on India, on which I bestowed so much time and labour, never came into existence'. Two years later, Simpson's collection of 250 watercolours was sold off as bankrupt stock: 'This was the big disaster of my life', as he ruefully remarked. This painting shows The Mosque Ghat in Varanasi (Benares), whose reputation as a sacred city for Hindus is demonstrated by its busy waterfront, where pilgrims undergo ritual purification in the River Ganges. The ghat (a stepped bank for bathing purposes) is one of more than seventy along the sacred river.
Object details
Categories | |
Object type | |
Title | The Mosque of Aurangzeb and Panchganga Ghat from the Ganges, Benares. |
Materials and techniques | Pencil, ink and watercolour |
Brief description | Watercolour, Mosque of Aurangzeb, Ganges, Benares, William Simpson, 1864 |
Physical description | The watercolour depicts the Mosque of Aurangzeb and Panchganga Ghat at Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh seen from the river Ganges. The mosque has two colossal minarets which dominate the skyline. Several locals are gathered on the banks. On the bottom right, an ascetic is seated on a floating wooden dock while a few women carry water in earthen pots. |
Dimensions |
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Marks and inscriptions | The Mosque Ghat. Benares. Wm Simpson 1864. |
Credit line | Purchased from Messrs Day and Son Ltd (London) in 1869 |
Object history | William Simpson (1823 - 1899), born in Glasgow, was a distinguished watercolourist and war artist. Following a seven-year apprenticeship with a specialist lithographic firm, he moved to London in February 1851 and found employment with Day and Sons. Having established his reputation by documenting the Crimean war in 1854, he was commissioned to sketch well-known sites in and around Delhi associated with the Revolt of 1857 against the rule of the British East India Company. Simpson arrived in Calcutta (Kolkata) at the end of October 1859 and travelled extensively. Throughout his life, he kept careful diaries, and his hundreds of sketches and pictures form an invaluable record of his travels. He planned to produce four large volumes with approximately 250 plates to be lithographed as illustrations. He spent seven years on the project – three years making preparatory works and the rest in London working his sketches into finished paintings. His life and work in India resulted in these highly coloured, evocative, and romantic interpretations of the landscape and architecture. While Simpson was away, Day and Son had been drifting into debt. In 1867, before it finally went into liquidation at the end of the year, Simpson was made a company shareholder as part payment for his work. Two years later, his collection of 250 watercolours were sold as bankrupt stock. The V&A purchased 44 original watercolours from Day & Son, Limited (London) in 1869. |
Summary | William Simpson was born on 28 October 1823 in Glasgow. Following a seven-year apprenticeship with a specialist lithographic firm, he moved to London in February 1851 and found employment with Day and Sons. In 1859 the firm commissioned Simpson to visit India and make drawings for a book illustrating well-known places associated with the 1857-58 uprising. Thus began Simpson's long association with India, and the first of his four visits to the subcontinent over the next twenty-five years. During these journeys he made numerous rapid pencil drawings in sketchbooks, often heightened with colour washes. Many formed preparatory studies for his finished watercolours, most of which he worked up after returning to London. The plan was for Day and Son to select 250 of these finished watercolours to be lithographed as illustrations in the projected volume. While Simpson was away in India, however, Day and Son had been drifting into debt. In 1867, before it finally went into liquidation at the end of the year, he was made a company shareholder as part payment. But, as he expressed it, 'the great work on India, on which I bestowed so much time and labour, never came into existence'. Two years later, Simpson's collection of 250 watercolours was sold off as bankrupt stock: 'This was the big disaster of my life', as he ruefully remarked. This painting shows The Mosque Ghat in Varanasi (Benares), whose reputation as a sacred city for Hindus is demonstrated by its busy waterfront, where pilgrims undergo ritual purification in the River Ganges. The ghat (a stepped bank for bathing purposes) is one of more than seventy along the sacred river. |
Bibliographic reference | Rohatgi P. and Parlett G., assisted by Imray S. and Godrej P. Indian Life and Landscape by Western Artists: Paintings and Drawings from the Victoria and Albert Museum, 17th to the early 20th century. Published by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, Mumbai, in association with V&A, London, 2008. ISBN 81-901020-9-5.
Cover; p. 302, pl. 17 andf detail
Registered File number RF/1869/6716 |
Collection | |
Accession number | 1142-1869 |
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Record created | January 5, 2005 |
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