A Hill village near Simla in the Himalayas
Painting
1860 (made)
1860 (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 completed the painting of the native village near Shimla, Punjab in India in 1860.
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 completed the painting of the native village near Shimla, Punjab in India in 1860.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | A Hill village near Simla in the Himalayas (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Watercolour on paper |
| Brief description | Painting of a hill village near Simla, Himachal Pradesh, by William Simpson, pencil and watercolour on paper, India, 1860 |
| Physical description | Painting of a native village near Shimla, Punjab. It shows a traditional wooden house amidst the hills. In front, a cattle rearer stands in a crop storage pit with his muzzled oxen while a villager on the left winnows grain using a basket. A third local on the right carries the grains on his back. In the foreground, a hookah and sickle are strewn outside the pit. |
| Dimensions |
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| 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). |
| Production | Simla |
| Subject depicted | |
| 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 completed the painting of the native village near Shimla, Punjab in India in 1860. |
| Bibliographic reference | Registered File number RF/1869/6716 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 1145-1869 |
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| Record created | January 22, 2003 |
| Record URL |
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