{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O431924"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O431924/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2022NC9721/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2022NC9721/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2022NC9721","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O431924/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O431924","accessionNumber":"1148-1869","objectType":"Painting","titles":[{"title":"Buddha, Caves of Ellora","type":"assigned by artist"}],"summaryDescription":"William Simpson, born on 28 October 1823 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. The firm commissioned him to go to India and record places associated with the events of the Indian Mutiny of 1857. \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 themselves formed an authentic record of his travels. In India, 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. \n\r\nIn January 1862, Simpson spent several days making rapid pencil sketches of the sacred interior spaces at the cave complex at Ellora. Built between the 6th and 10th centuries, the religious site is dedicated to Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain idols. This watercolour, completed in London, shows a statue of a Jain Tirthankara meditating on a lotus throne with chauri (flywhisk) bearers on either side. Although Simpson labelled his painting as Buddha, a misnomer, the absence of clothing on the figure identifies it as a Jain deity. \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, he was made a company shareholder as part of payment. Two years later, his collection of 250 watercolours was sold as bankrupt stock.  ","physicalDescription":"The painting shows a statue of a Jain Tirthankara meditating on a lotus throne with chauri (flywhisk) bearers on either side in the caves of Ellora. He has a distinct triple-umbrella above his head. The plinth has a 'dharma-chakra' or wheel of law at the centre with lions carved on either side. Two local devotees visit the shrine.","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":"Pencil and watercolour on paper","categories":[],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"SSEA","id":"THES48598"},"images":["2022NC9721"],"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":"1865","earliest":"1865-01-01","latest":"1865-12-31"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Purchased from Messrs Day and Son Ltd (London) in 1869","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Width","value":"366","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Length","value":"252","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"Front - Buddha, caves of Ellora. Wm. Simpson 1865. ","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":""},{"content":"Back - 227.Buddha - Caves of Ellora \r\nThis is the unusual manner in which Buddha is represented. The leaves of the lotus are always indicated where he sits; his curly hair always rises to a high point on the crown of his head, and above that are the three umbrellas. The figures on each side are merely attendants, the one holding a chouri and the other a mace. The wheel which here forms a part of the throne suggests a curious likeness to the wheels of Ezekiel. The wheel is a great symbol of Buddha; and one of his titles is that of Chkravarta Rajah, which is “King of the wheel”, the praying cylinder being one of the forms which the wheel of Buddha assumed. ","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 Buddha, caves of Ellora By William Simpson, pencil and watercolour on paper, London, 1865","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":[{"text":"The cave complex at Ellora, built between the 6th and 10th centuries, is dedicated to Buddhist, Hindu and Jain deities. In January 1862, Simpson spent several days making rapid pencil sketches of the sacred interior spaces. This watercolour, completed in London, shows a statue of the Buddha meditating on a lotus throne with chauri (flywhisk) bearers on either side. Two local devotees visit the shrine.","date":{"text":"23/03/2022","earliest":"2022-03-23","latest":"2022-03-23"}}],"partNumbers":["1148-1869"],"accessionNumberNum":"1148","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":1869,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-09-21","recordCreationDate":"2009-06-25","availableToBook":false}}