{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O117823"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O117823/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2022NC9463/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2022NC9463/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2022NC9463","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017KE2660","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O117823/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O117823","accessionNumber":"IS.116-1885","objectType":"Painting","titles":[{"title":"Copy of painting in the caves of Ajanta (Cave 2)","type":"generic title"},{"title":"Copy of painting in the caves of Ajanta","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"This is a copy of a painting inside cave 2 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\nHere you can see long scolling flower stems with lotus and other flowers in an aquatic setting with a pair of geese. The lotus is an emblem of purity and is associated with the Buddha. So too are the geese, which are symbols of the dispersal of the Buddha's message.\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":"Strip of floral decoration consisting of long curling stalks with several different types of flowers and two geese.","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":"Buddhism","id":"THES48984"},{"text":"Paintings","id":"THES48917"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"SSEA","id":"THES48598"},"images":["2022NC9463","2017KE2660"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"002","id":"THES360692"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Painting","id":"x30598"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"No","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":"1399","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"painting","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"252","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"painting","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"40","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"painting","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"1444","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"with frame","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"283","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"with frame","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"45","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"with frame","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"'JE N / 10'","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":"","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 a painting in the caves of Ajanta showing floral details, by John Griffiths and students of the Bombay School of Art, oil on canvas, 19th century, India","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Griffiths, J, The paintings in the Buddhist cave temples of Ajanta, India, 1896\r\n"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Burgess, J, Notes on the Bauddha Rock-Temples of Ajanta, Bombay, 1879"},{"reference":{"text":"L'escultura en el temples indis : l'art de la devoció : exposició organitzada per la Fundació \"La Caixa\" i el Victoria & Albert Museum, Londres. [Barcelona: Obra social, Fundació \"la Caixa\", c2007 Number: 9788476649466","id":"AUTH339669"},"details":"p.48, Cat. 1-2","free":""},{"reference":{"text":"Guy, J. <i>Tree and Serpent: Early Buddhist Art in India</i>, The Metropolitian Museum of Art. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2023.","id":"AUTH411627"},"details":"pp. 71-72","free":""}],"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.116-1885"],"accessionNumberNum":"116","accessionNumberPrefix":"IS","accessionYear":1885,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":["2019LN5975","2019LU3141"],"recordModificationDate":"2026-03-13","recordCreationDate":"2005-10-21","availableToBook":false}}