{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O73404"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O73404/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AJ6547/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AJ6547/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AJ6547","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O73404/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O73404","accessionNumber":"1170-1869","objectType":"Painting","titles":[{"title":"Persian wheel near Amritsar","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 Persian waterwheel near Amritsar, India in London in 1865. ","physicalDescription":"Painting of a Persian water wheel (type of irrigation device) near Amritsar, Punjab, India. The waterwheel consists of a chain of earthenware pots slung around a large vertical wheel, which turns by a system of cogs and interlocking wheels powered by a pair of oxen. On the left, a herder tends to his cattle. A couple of bullock rest in the field on the right. ","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"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"SSEA","id":"THES48598"},"images":["2006AJ6547"],"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":"1865","earliest":"1865-01-01","latest":"1865-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Purchased from Day & Son, Limited (London) in 1869","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"26.7","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"36.9","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"Painting of a Persian wheel. 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":""}],"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).\n\nHistorical significance: William Simpson (1823 - 1899)\r\n\r\nWilliam Simpson was commissioned to go to India by his employers, Day and Sons, the London lithography firm. Having established his reputation by documenting the Crimean war in 1854, he was instructed to sketch well-known sites in and around Delhi associated with the heavy fighting of 1857.\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 which were done after his return to London in 1862. His fond memories of India, as noted in his journal, resulted in these highly coloured, evocative and romantic interpretations of the Indian landscape.\r\n\r\nSimpson, a largely self-taught artist from a poor family in Scotland, had hoped to achieve fame on the publication of his paintings in a lavishly illustrated volume. Unfortunately, financial problems led to the poorly printed India Ancient and Modern containing only fifty images. Simpson called it the ‘big disaster’ of his life. \r\n\r\nThe V&A has the single most important collection of watercolours made during Simpson's first expedition to India.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Painting of a Persian water wheel by William Simpson, watercolour on paper, India, 1864.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"Patel, Divia; Rohatgi, Pauline and Godrej, Pheroza, \"Indian Life and Landscape by Western Artists: an exhibition of paintings and drawings from the 17th to the early 20th century organised by the V&A and CSMVS\". Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS), Mumbai and Victoria and Albert Museum, 2008, ISBN:81-901020-8-7","id":"AUTH330101"},"details":"p. 72","free":"Registered File number RF/1869/6716"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"wheels","id":"AAT24976"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"Simpson came across this waterwheel while touring the countryside around Amritsar in early 1860. As well as depicting monuments and awe-inspiring landscapes, he produced romanticised views of everyday life in rural India.","date":{"text":"1/12/2008","earliest":"2008-12-01","latest":"2008-12-01"}}],"partNumbers":["1170-1869"],"accessionNumberNum":"1170","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":1869,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-24","recordCreationDate":"2003-01-24","availableToBook":true}}