{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O70021"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O70021/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AJ6375/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AJ6375/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AJ6375","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AW3375","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2019LX2107","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O70021/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O70021","accessionNumber":"IS.40-1882","objectType":"Painting","titles":[{"title":"The Akalis Tower, Amritsar, Punjab","type":"assigned by artist"}],"summaryDescription":"William Carpenter was the eldest son of the distinguished portrait painter Margaret Sarah Carpenter and of William Hookham Carpenter, who became Keeper of the Prints and Drawings Department at the British Museum. In early 1850 he set off in the footsteps of his younger brother Percy, also an artist, and landed in Bombay. He spent much of his time painting portraits of local rulers and the surrounding countryside, often wearing Indian dress himself. He travelled widely, from Sri Lanka in the south to Kashmir in the north, and he also spent some time in the Punjab and Afghanistan before moving south to Rajasthan. He appears to have returned to England in 1856. Ten years later he was living in Boston, USA, but he later returned to London, where he died in 1899. This painting shows the tower that was part of a gurdwara built to commemorate Baba Atal Rai, the son of the Sikh Guru Hargobind Sahib, who died in his ninth year in 1628.The gurdwara no longer exists, and Carpenter’s drawing provides an invaluable record of what it looked like.\r\nThe tower is south of the Harmandir Sahib, or Golden Temple. ","physicalDescription":"Watercolour on paper. Multi-sided building with central tower and dome, surrounded by water and trees.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Carpenter, William","id":"A6229"},"association":{"text":"painter (artist)","id":"AAT25136"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"watercolour","id":"x33202"},{"text":"paper (fiber product)","id":"AAT14109"}],"techniques":[{"text":"watercolour painting (technique)","id":"THES250889"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Watercolour on paper","categories":[{"text":"Paintings","id":"THES48917"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"SSEA","id":"THES48598"},"images":["2006AJ6375","2006AW3375","2019LX2107"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"004","id":"THES403679"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Painting","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Amritsar","id":"x31116"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"probably 02/1854","earliest":"1854-02-01","latest":"1854-02-28"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Purchased from William Carpenter","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"24.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"17","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Museum numbers IS.33-1888 to IS.166-1888 purchased from William Carpenter for £500. This acquisition information reflects that found in the Museum records (Asia Department registers and/or Central Inventory) as part of a 2023 provenance research project.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"'The Akalis' Tower, Amritsar, Panjab' by William Carpenter (British); watercolour on paper; India; 1854.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"Stronge, S. \"The Arts of the Sikh Kingdoms\", V&A, 1999","id":"AUTH327365"},"details":"p. 52, pl. 51 and pp.238-9, Cat. 212","free":""}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"‘The Akalis Tower at Amritsar, Punjab’\r\nBy William Carpenter (1818-99)\r\nPencil and watercolour on paper\r\nAmritsar, 1854\r\nIS.40-1882\r\n\r\nThis English watercolourist travelled across the north of the subcontinent between 1850 and 1857, possibly commissioned by The Illustrated London News to depict the people and places he saw. His paintings were some of the earliest to be reproduced by the journal in both colour and black and white.The monument near the Golden Temple is more commonly referred to as the shrine of Baba Atal.  It was built in about 1780 in memory of Atal Rai (1619-1628), a son of the sixth Sikh Guru, Hargobind, who died aged only nine. \r\n\r\n","date":{"text":"2009","earliest":"2009-01-01","latest":"2009-12-31"}},{"text":"‘THE AKALIS TOWER AT AMRITSAR, PANJAB’\r\nWatercolour on paper\r\nAmritsar \r\nWilliam Carpenter (1818-99)\r\n1854\r\nIS.40-1882\r\nGiven by William Carpenter\r\nThis tower on the south side of the Harmandir complex commemorates Baba Atal Rai, the son of the sixth Sikh Guru Hargobind. The young boy died in 1628, but the tower was built only in the late 18th century and eventually became a gurdwara. The painting, by an English artist who travelled across Punjab in the mid-1850s, gives an impression of the verdant setting. Comparison with Beato’s photograph [V&A: 80096] of the same structure shows Carpenter’s representation is not strictly accurate.\r\n","date":{"text":"August 2017","earliest":"2017-08-01","latest":"2017-08-31"}}],"partNumbers":["IS.40-1882"],"accessionNumberNum":"40","accessionNumberPrefix":"IS","accessionYear":1882,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-05-07","recordCreationDate":"2002-11-13","availableToBook":false}}