{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O73315"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O73315/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2023NP5288/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2023NP5288/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2023NP5288","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AJ6545","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O73315/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O73315","accessionNumber":"1156-1869","objectType":"Painting","titles":[{"title":"View of the Kaiser Bagh in Lucknow","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 battle scene at the Chaulakhi Kothi at the Kaiserbagh Palace Complex in Lucknow, India in 1864. The Kaiserbagh Palace was built between 1848 and 1850 for Nawab Wajid Ali Shah (r. 1847-56). It consisted of an immense courtyard surrounded by living quarters, royal mansions, baradaris (pillared pavilions) and cupolas. A large part of the Kaiserbagh Palace Complex was destroyed during the Indian Mutiny of 1857-58 (known in India as the First War of Indian Independence) by the British. The scene is an imaginary one and was painted a few years after the events depicted.","physicalDescription":"Painting of a battle scene at the Chaulakhi Kothi at the Kaiserbagh Palace Complex in Lucknow, India. It shows the rebellion of Indian sepoys against the British East India Company officials. Several armed soldiers are in combat, while two men have fallen to the ground. Gold and silverware, presumably loot, fall out of an open trunk in the foreground. An eclectic structure with scalloped archways and fish reliefs, crowned with chattris (dome-shaped pavilions) – features typical of Indo-Islamic architecture is seen in the background. ","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Simpson, William","id":"A2392"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"AAT251917"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"watercolour","id":"x33202"}],"techniques":[{"text":"painting","id":"x30598"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Watercolour on paper","categories":[{"text":"Paintings","id":"THES48917"},{"text":"Images Online","id":"THES48937"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"SSEA","id":"THES48598"},"images":["2023NP5288","2006AJ6545"],"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":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1864","earliest":"1864-01-01","latest":"1864-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Purchased from Messrs Day and Son Ltd (London) in 1869","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"14","unit":"in","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"10","unit":"in","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"Kaiser Bagh, Lucknow. 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":"Simpson, William (1823-1899).  Painter and lithographer.  Simpson was apprenticed to a lithographer in Glasgow and in 1851 came to London where he made views of the Great Exhibition.  He became well known for his paintings with commissions by Queen Victoria  to paint various important events in her reign. In 1859 the publishers, Day and Son, commissioned him to make drawings of India.  On his return he produced \"India, ancient and modern\" (London, 1867), a series of illustrations of the country and its people.  Later in 1876, he accompanied the Prince of Wales to India and published \"Shikare and Tomasha, a souvenir of the visit of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales to India (London, 1876).","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Painting of the Kaiserbagh Palace complex, Lucknow, by William Simpson, pencil and watercolour on paper, London, 1864","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"Rohatgi P. and Parlett G., assisted by Imray S. and Godrej P. <u>Indian Life and Landscape by Western Artists: Paintings and Drawings from the Victoria and Albert Museum, 17th to the early 20th century</u>. Published by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, Mumbai, in association with V&A, London, 2008. ISBN 81-901020-9-5.","id":"AUTH329675"},"details":"p. 285, pl. 41","free":"Registered File number RF/1869/6716"},{"reference":{"text":"India's fabled city : the art of courtly Lucknow / Stephen Markel with Tushara Bindu Gude ; and contributions by Muzaffar Alam ... [et al.]. Munich ;London: Prestel, Johann Gottlieb, c2010 Number: 9783791350752 (hbk.), 3791350757 (hbk.)","id":"AUTH339155"},"details":"cat. no. 175, p. 41.","free":""}],"production":"Lucknow","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[{"text":"Lucknow","id":"x32012"}],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["1156-1869"],"accessionNumberNum":"1156","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":1869,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-11-25","recordCreationDate":"2003-01-22","availableToBook":true}}