Important British Pictures - Paintings, Drawings, Watercolours and Portrait Miniatures

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Lot 171
  • 171

William Simpson 1823-1899

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Description

  • William Simpson
  • The Bisheswar or Golden Temple of Shiva, Benares, India
  • signed and dated l.r.: Wm. Simpson/ 1862., inscribed l.l.: Golden Temple. Benares.
  • pencil and watercolour, heightened with white

Literature

Joachim K. Bautze, The Interaction of Cultures, Indian and Western Painting, The Ehrenfeld Collection; Art Services International, 1998, p. 14, fig. 9

Catalogue Note

Simpson was born in Glasgow on 28th October 1823 and died in Willesden on 17th August 1899.  After working in an architect's office he was apprenticed to a Glasgow firm of lithographers.  In 1851 he moved to London and worked for Day & Son.  He was sent to the Baltic by Colnaghi to record the naval battles at the beginning of the Crimea War, and in 1854 he was sent to Crimea itself.  He also toured Circassia with the Duke of Newcastle.  In 1859 he was sent to India where he spent three years and even penetrated Tibet.  The present watercolour and the previous lot were drawn during his last year in India.  On his return to London he was employed by The Illustrated London News.  He travelled extensively in this capacity and returned to India with the Prince of Wales in 1875.

The town of Benares, now called Varanasi, is on the banks of the river Ganges near Sarnath. The Hindu temple, dedicated to Shiva, is popularly known as the Golden Temple, due to the gold-plating on its spire.