Two natch girls, Kashmir
- Object:
- Place of origin:
- Date:
- Artist/Maker:
Carpenter, William, born 1818 - died 1899 (maker)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Museum number:
- Gallery location:
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William Carpenter was trained at the Royal Academy Schools. He was in India from 1850 t0 1856, during which time he travelled extensively from Bombay (Mumbai) and across western India to Rajasthan, Delhi, Kashmir, Lahore and Afghanistan. His depiction of every day street scenes and groups of people is remarkably accurate and animated, his portraits vividly capturing the character of his sitters and the glowing effects of sunlight as cityscapes and architectural monuments. Brilliantly executed in a range of warm colours, his watercolours evoke a gentle romanticism.
After his return to England, The Illustrated London News published some of his watercolours. In 1881, he exhibited 275 of his paintings in a one-man show in the South Kensington Museum, London. This entire collection was subsequently acquired by the V&A.
Nautch girls were a popular subject for artists and this idealised painting typifies the kind of romantic sentiment that was inspired by the landscapes and people of Kashmir. Carpenter's romantic vision of Kashmir, and India in general, was heavily influenced by the popular poem Lalla Rookh by Thomas Moore. Based on travellers' tales and pictorial sources the poem focuses on Emperor Aurangzeb's daughter, Lalla Rookh, and provides a generalized view of the Orient using exotic imagery with a mixture of Indian, Iranian and Turkish elements.
Physical description
Two nautch girls elaborately costumed and bejewelled seated in a terrace, the one on the left smoking a huqqa, with mountains in the distance through the window.
Place of Origin
Kashmir, India (made)
Date
08/1854 (made)
Artist/maker
Carpenter, William, born 1818 - died 1899 (maker)
Materials and Techniques
Watercolour on paper
Marks and inscriptions
Kashmere Nautch Srinagar Aug 1854
Dimensions
Width: 53.8 cm, Height: 38.3 cm
Object history note
Historical significance: William Carpenter (1818-99)
William Carpenter was trained at the Royal Academy Schools, and was the eldest son of the distinguished portrait painter Margaret Sarah Carpenter and William Hookham Carpenter, who became Keeper of the Prints and Drawings Department at the British Museum.
He was in India from 1850 t0 1856, during which time he travelled extensively from Bombay (Mumbai) and across western India to Rajasthan, Delhi, Kashmir, Lahore and Afghanistan. His depiction of every day street scenes and groups of people is remarkably accurate and animated, his portraits vividly capturing the character of his sitters and the glowing effects of sunlight as cityscapes and architectural monuments. Brilliantly executed in a range of warm colours, his watercolours evoke a gentle romanticism.
After his return to England, The Illustrated London News published some of his watercolours. In 1881, he exhibited 275 of his paintings in a one-man show in the South Kensington Museum, London. This entire collection was subsequently acquired by the V&A.
Descriptive line
Painting of two Kashmiri dancing girls by William Carpenter, watercolour on paper, Kashmir, India, 1854
Exhibition History
Indian Life and Landscape by Western Artists. Paintings and Drawings from the V&A 1790-1927. (Salar Jung Museum, Hyderabad 01/01/2002-28/03/2010)
Indian Life and Landscape by Western Artists. Paintings and Drawings from the V&A 1790-1927. (Victoria Memorial Hall, Kolkota 22/12/2009-31/01/2010)
Indian Life and Landscape by Western Artists. Paintings and Drawings from the V&A 1790-1927. (National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi 06/12/2009-31/12/2010)
Indian Life and Landscape by Western Artists. Paintings and Drawings from the V&A 1790-1927. (Mehrangarh Museum Trust, Rajasthan 01/09/2003-08/05/2009)
Indian Life and Landscape by Western Artists. Paintings and Drawings from the V&A 1790-1927. (Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS), Mumbai 08/12/2008-22/02/2009)
Labels and date
Nautch girls were a popular subject for artists and this idealised painting typifies the kind of romantic sentiment that was inspired by the landscapes and people of Kashmir. Carpenter's romantic vision of Kashmir, and India in general, was heavily influenced by the popular poem Lalla Rookh by Thomas Moore. Based on travellers' tales and pictorial sources the poem focuses on Emperor Aurangzeb's daughter, Lalla Rookh, and provides a generalized view of the Orient using exotic imagery with a mixture of Indian, Iranian and Turkish elements. [1/12/2008]
Materials
Paper
Techniques
Painting
Subjects depicted
Dancer; Huqqa-smokers
Categories
Paintings
Collection code
SSEA
