{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O115469"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O115469/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AY0638/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AY0638/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AY0638","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017KE2623","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O115469/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O115469","accessionNumber":"IS.99-1885","objectType":"Oil painting","titles":[{"title":"Copy of painting inside the caves of Ajanta (cave 17)","type":"series title"},{"title":"Copy of painting in the caves of Ajanta","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"This is a copy of a painting on one of the pilasters in cave 17 at Ajanta. The cave paintings here are the oldest surviving examples of painting in India and date from the 1st century BC to about AD 480. \r\n\r\nThe cave complex was discovered in 1819 and attempts were made to document the paintings inside them. In 1844 Major Robert Gill was commissioned to make copies. Unfortunately most of the paintings he completed were destroyed in a fire in 1866. To make up for this loss, from 1872 to 1885 John Griffiths from the Bombay School of Art and seven Indian students spent every winter at the caves. This is one of the approximately 300 paintings they produced.","physicalDescription":"In the middle of the painting is a dark skinned woman adorned with beautiful jewellery around her neck and wearing an ornate crown. She is looking into a mirror which she holds in her left hand. On either side of her are two female attendants. The one on the left of the painting carries a flywisk and the one on the right holds a tray. In the right hand corner of the painting is a dwarf-like attendant. This scene is set in a rocky landscape represented in the typical Ajanta style.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Griffiths, John","id":"A4223"},"association":{"text":"artist","id":"AAT25103"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"Bombay School of Art","id":"A2830"},"association":{"text":"artist","id":"AAT25103"},"note":""}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"oil colour","id":"AAT15050"},{"text":"canvas","id":"AAT14078"}],"techniques":[{"text":"oil painting","id":"AAT178684"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Oil on canvas","categories":[{"text":"Paintings","id":"THES48917"},{"text":"Buddhism","id":"THES48984"},{"text":"India Museum","id":"THES286062"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"SSEA","id":"THES48598"},"images":["2006AY0638","2017KE2623"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"B","id":"THES376879"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"oil painting","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Ajanta","id":"x39072"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1872-1885","earliest":"1872-01-01","latest":"1885-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"2138","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"1040","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"2190","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"with frame","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"1060","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"with frame","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"40","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"with frame","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"Paper label '99-85' -attached cellotape","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":""}],"objectHistory":"Commissioned by the Government of India between 1872-1885 and deposited in the India Museum, London.\n\nHistorical significance: This painting can be found on a pilaster in cave 17.","historicalContext":"The cave paintings of Ajanta are the oldest surviving examples of painting in India. They depict stories from the lives of the Buddha (the jatakas) and date from the 1st century BC to about AD 480. The cave complex was discovered in 1819 and since then attempts have been made to document the paintings inside them. In 1844 Major Robert Gill was commissioned to make copies. Unfortunately most of the paintings he completed were destroyed in a fire in 1866. To make up for this loss, from 1872, John Griffiths from the Bombay school of Art and seven Indian students spent every winter for the following 13 years at the caves producing approximately 300 paintings, of which this is one.","briefDescription":"Copy of Fresco 11 to G in Cave 1 of the caves of Ajanta by John Griffiths and students from the Bombay School of Art, oil on canvas, 1872-1885, India.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Griffiths, J, The paintings in the Buddhist cave temples of Ajanta, India, 1896"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Zin, M, Guide to the Ajanta Paintings, Vol.2, New Delhi, 2003."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Burgess, J, Notes on the Bauddha Rock-Temples of Ajanta, Bombay, 1879"}],"production":"Painted by John Griffiths and students from the Bombay School of Art","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[{"text":"India","id":"x29790"}],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[{"text":"Buddhism","id":"AAT73738"}],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["IS.99-1885"],"accessionNumberNum":"99","accessionNumberPrefix":"IS","accessionYear":1885,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-08-26","recordCreationDate":"2005-08-18","availableToBook":true}}