{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O251359"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O251359/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2009CE3344/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2009CE3344/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2009CE3344","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O251359/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O251359","accessionNumber":"1166-1869","objectType":"Painting","titles":[{"title":"Children sleeping in the Himalayas","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"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. \r\n\r\nSimpson 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.\r\n\r\nSimpson completed the painting of the children sleeping in a village in the Himalayas, India, in London in 1864. \r\n","physicalDescription":"Painting of children sleeping in a village in the Himalayas, India. In the background, picturesque snow-capped mountains encompass traditional wooden houses. Two children, wrapped in white blankets, rest on the ground with their feet on wooden planks. A man wearing a red headgear winds yarn on the spool in the foreground. ","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Simpson, William RI FRGS","id":"A10511"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"watercolour (paint)","id":"AAT15045"},{"text":"paper (fiber product)","id":"AAT14109"}],"techniques":[{"text":"watercolour painting (technique)","id":"THES250889"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Watercolour on paper","categories":[],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"SSEA","id":"THES48598"},"images":["2009CE3344"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"006","id":"THES403505"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Painting","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"London","id":"x28980"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1864","earliest":"1864-01-01","latest":"1864-12-31"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Purchased from Messrs Day and Son Ltd (London) in 1869","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"26","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"37","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"Children sleeping in the Himalayas. Wm. Simpson, 1864. ","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":"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. \r\n\r\nSimpson 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.\r\n\r\nWhile 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.  ","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Painting of children sleeping in the Himalayas, by William Simpson, pencil and watercolour on paper, London, 1864","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Registered File number RF/1869/6716"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["1166-1869"],"accessionNumberNum":"1166","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":1869,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-08-26","recordCreationDate":"2009-06-24","availableToBook":true}}