{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O74891"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O74891/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2022NF4541/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2022NF4541/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2022NF4541","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AH4395","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O74891/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O74891","accessionNumber":"1134-1869","objectType":"Painting","titles":[{"title":"Opium cultivation scene, Malwa","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"William Simpson was born in Glasgow in 1823. He worked at a specialist lithographic firm, where he learned the art of lithography, before moving to London and working for the publishing firm William Day and Son. In 1859 the firm commissioned Simpson to visit India and make drawings for a book illustrating well-known places associated with the 1857 uprising of the Indian army against their British officers. Simpson visited India four times over the next 25 years, making many rapid pencil sketches of a great range of subjects. These formed the basis for finished watercolours for the projected book. Unfortunately, Day and Son went into liquidation in 1867 and two years later Simpson’s collection of 250 watercolours was sold off as bankrupt stock. \r\n\r\nA woman is seen here harvesting opium under the spreading branches of a banyan tree. She is making cuts in the poppy heads, releasing the raw opium in the form of a sticky resin, which is then gathered. This opium is being harvested in Malwa, central India, an area that had been important for opium production since the 16th century.","physicalDescription":"Painting of opium cultivation in Malwa, a historical region of west-central India. A woman, wearing a skirt and blouse with a dupatta (long scarf) over her head, is seen harvesting opium under the spreading branches of a banyan tree. She is making cuts in the poppy heads, releasing the raw opium in the form of a sticky resin, which is then gathered. A farmer tends to his oxen on the left side. ","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":["2022NF4541","2006AH4395"],"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":"1862","earliest":"1862-01-01","latest":"1862-12-31"},"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":"20","unit":"in","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"Opium cultivation, Malwa. Wm. Simpson 1862.","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 Opium cultivation scene, Malwa, by William Simpson, pencil and watercolour on paper, London, 1862","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":[{"text":"opium","id":"x31722"},{"text":"tree","id":"AAT132410"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["1134-1869"],"accessionNumberNum":"1134","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":1869,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-12","recordCreationDate":"2003-02-23","availableToBook":true}}