Design
ca. 1880 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This design is typical of the work done by students of the Mayo School of Arts in Lahore, in present-day Pakistan, under the direction of the British artist John Lockwood Kipling (1837–1911). The students there copied fresco designs on mosque interiors in Lahore, but the elements of figural decoration in this painting suggests it is copied from a wall painting in the Harmandir, popularly known as the Golden Temple, at Amritsar. This is confirmed by an annotation in the hand of Caspar Stanley Clarke, head of the V&A’s Indian Department in the early 20th century: ‘The Golden Temple, Amritsar’.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Painted in opaque watercolour on paper |
| Brief description | Design for a wall painting, opaque watercolour on paper; Lahore, ca. 1880 |
| Physical description | Drawing of a wall painting; opaque watercolour on paper, the polychrome design has a rectangular outer border of leaves between rules, forming a trompe l'oeil frame. Within this is a blue and white dish on a high foot, supporting grapes and flowers and a bouquet of fantastic flowers above. The dish rests on a mound of interlaced and intertwined pink an yellow bands within which are lion masks, and parrots and peacocks perched on the top and edges. The white background is filled with blossoms on tendrils. |
| Dimensions |
|
| Marks and inscriptions | 'The Golden Temple, Amritsar' (This annotation by Caspar Stanley Clarke, Keeper of the Indian Section in the early 20th century, is erroneous. Patwant Singh, who examined the painting in 1998, says nothing like this is to be seen today in the Golden Temple, suggesting that the painting may be more likely to have been produced in the Mayo School of Art, Lahore, rather than a copy of a fresco painting in the Golden Temple.) |
| Object history | Probably one of a group of four designs collected by Caspar Purdon Clarke in Lahore in 1881-1882. It was re-accessioned in 1998. |
| Production | The identification of Caspar Stanley Clarke's hand was rejected by Patwant Singh in 1998 and the design may have been done at the Lahore School of Art. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | This design is typical of the work done by students of the Mayo School of Arts in Lahore, in present-day Pakistan, under the direction of the British artist John Lockwood Kipling (1837–1911). The students there copied fresco designs on mosque interiors in Lahore, but the elements of figural decoration in this painting suggests it is copied from a wall painting in the Harmandir, popularly known as the Golden Temple, at Amritsar. This is confirmed by an annotation in the hand of Caspar Stanley Clarke, head of the V&A’s Indian Department in the early 20th century: ‘The Golden Temple, Amritsar’. |
| Associated objects | |
| Bibliographic reference | Stronge, S. (Ed.) "The Arts of the Sikh Kingdoms", V&A, 1999
cat. 193, p. 236 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | IS.3-1998 |
About this object record
Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
| Record created | January 2, 2003 |
| Record URL |
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest
