Praying cylinders at Soonum, Himalayas
Painting
1862 (made)
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 Soonum in 1862, where he completed this painting. There he first saw the prayer wheels that turned by using waterpower.
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 Soonum in 1862, where he completed this painting. There he first saw the prayer wheels that turned by using waterpower.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Praying cylinders at Soonum, Himalayas (assigned by artist) |
| Materials and techniques | Watercolour on paper |
| Brief description | Painting by a British artist: William Simpson, Praying cylinders at Soonum, Himalayas, 1862. |
| Physical description | Painting of the praying cylinders in Soonum, Himalayas. Within a mountainous landscape, a crudely erected wooden structure holds the cylinders - fixed to an axle on a horizontal paddle wheel. When the water gushes down, it causes a circular movement in the cylinders. A local woman dressed in a striped skirt collects water in a barrel. Another woman, accompanied by a child, carries the water barrel on her back. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions | 12. Praying cylinders at Soonum, Himalayas
This is another variety of the praying-machines before alluded to, and is kept in rotation by the water which is here brought down for the use of the village, and the purposes of irrigation. They are filled with the holy sentence before referred to. |
| 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 Soonum in 1862, where he completed this painting. There he first saw the prayer wheels that turned by using waterpower. |
| Bibliographic reference | Registered File number RF/1869/6716 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 1153-1869 |
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| Record created | February 23, 2003 |
| Record URL |
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