Painting of the Somnath gates, now in Fort Agra, by William Simpson, pencil and watercolour on paper, London, 1866

Painting of the Gates of Somnath in the Agra Fort, Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. Each deodar wood door comprises of two shutters hinged with elaborately carved metal brackets. Each shutter is made up of star-shaped geometrical panels with carving in low relief. A red tasselled curtain is drawn partially over the closed doors. In the foreground, two men, one dressed in an official uniform, arrange and clean the firearms and swords.

Purchased from Messrs Day and Son Ltd (London) in 1869

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.

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 Gates of Somnath, Agra in London in 1866. Like many others, he was mistaken about the provenance of the gate. This gate belonged to the tomb of Mahmud Ghaznavi at Ghazni. In 1842, The British brought it from Ghazni for the Proclamation of Lord Ellenborough, the Governor General of Britain's territories in India. They claimed these were the sandalwood gates of Somnath, taken by the Mahmud to Ghazni in 1025. However, an Arabic inscription on the top notes the Mahmud with his epithets. Also, the gates were made of deodar, and the decoration had no resemblance to the ancient Gujarati woodwork found in Somnath.

1150-1869