Not currently on display at the V&A

Praying cylinders in the village of Kulsi on the Indus

Painting
1862 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

William Simpson (1823 - 1899) was a distinguished watercolourist and war artist. Having established his reputation by documenting the Crimean war in 1854, Day and Sons, the London lithography firm, commissioned him to sketch well-known sites in and around Delhi associated with the Revolt of 1857 by Indians against the rule of the British East India Company.

Simpson arrived in Calcutta (Kolkata) in 1859 and travelled widely. His rapid pencil drawings formed the preparatory studies for his finished watercolours done after his return to London in 1862. His detailed journal, sketches and pictures from India resulted in these highly coloured, evocative, and romantic interpretations of the landscape and architecture.

Simpson visited the village of Kulsi in 1862, where he completed this painting. Set within a mountainous landscape, the praying cylinders are attached to a Chorten, a Buddhist Stupa archetypal to Tibet. This was his first encounter with Buddhism, a subject he studied and wrote about, in his later years.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitlePraying cylinders in the village of Kulsi on the Indus (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Watercolour on paper
Brief description
Painting of praying cylinders in Kulsi on the Indus, India, by William Simpson, pencil and watercolour on paper, London, 1862
Physical description
Painting of the praying cylinders in the village of Kulsi on the river Indus. Set within a mountainous landscape, the praying cylinders are attached to a Chorten, a Buddhist Stupa archetypal to Tibet. A local woman, dressed in a striped skirt, turns the wheel as she recites a mantra or sacred utterance while other locals are sitting on the rocks nearby. A tea picker, carrying a bamboo basket on her back, is seen in conversation in the forefront.
Dimensions
  • Height: 14in
  • Width: 9in
Marks and inscriptions
  • Front - Praying cylinders in the village of Kulsi on the Indus. Wm. Simpson 1862.
  • Back - 111. Praying-cylinder, in the Village of Khulsi, on the Indus. The monumental-looking objects in this village are called "Choctains," and are identical with the Topes and Dhagopas, already mentioned as being peculiar to the Buddhist religion in India. Attached to one of them is an erection containing two praying-cylinders, which the villagers, in passing, never fail to give a turn with their hands.
Credit line
Purchased from Messrs Day and Son Ltd (London) in 1869
Object history
Simpson, William (1823-1899). Painter and lithographer. Simpson was apprenticed to a lithographer in Glasgow and in 1851 came to London where he made views of the Great Exhibition. He became well known for his paintings with commissions by Queen Victoria to paint various important events in her reign. In 1859 the publishers, Day and Son, commissioned him to make drawings of India. On his return he produced "India, ancient and modern" (London, 1867), a series of illustrations of the country and its people. Later in 1876, he accompanied the Prince of Wales to India and published "Shikare and Tomasha, a souvenir of the visit of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales to India" (London, 1876).
Summary
William Simpson (1823 - 1899) was a distinguished watercolourist and war artist. Having established his reputation by documenting the Crimean war in 1854, Day and Sons, the London lithography firm, commissioned him to sketch well-known sites in and around Delhi associated with the Revolt of 1857 by Indians against the rule of the British East India Company.

Simpson arrived in Calcutta (Kolkata) in 1859 and travelled widely. His rapid pencil drawings formed the preparatory studies for his finished watercolours done after his return to London in 1862. His detailed journal, sketches and pictures from India resulted in these highly coloured, evocative, and romantic interpretations of the landscape and architecture.

Simpson visited the village of Kulsi in 1862, where he completed this painting. Set within a mountainous landscape, the praying cylinders are attached to a Chorten, a Buddhist Stupa archetypal to Tibet. This was his first encounter with Buddhism, a subject he studied and wrote about, in his later years.
Bibliographic reference
Registered File number RF/1869/6716
Collection
Accession number
1132-1869

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Record createdJanuary 20, 2003
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