drawing
- Museum number
- 1900,0411.36
- Description
-
Crocodiles on the Ganges; crocodiles on a mudbank in the river, the moon on the horizon, boats on the water, the steps of a temple visible at r. 1875
Watercolour, heightened with white
- Production date
- 1875
- Dimensions
-
Height: 246 millimetres
-
Width: 346 millimetres
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
- This is one of four watercolours depicting Indian landscapes by William Simpson in the collection of the British Museum. The work shows six crocodiles resting on a sandbank in the Ganges River. It was exhibited in the ‘India “Special”’ show at the Burlington Galleries, Piccadilly, in 1876 alongside 200 other watercolours and sketches showcasing the Prince of Wales’s visit to India in 1875/76. In the exhibition catalogue, the watercolour is listed as no. 51 and is offered for the comparatively high price of 20 guineas. An accompanying caption reads as follows: “There are two kinds of alligators in the Ganges, the gooryale, which has a bottle-nose and his harmless, and the mugger, here depicted, which is so dangerous to the natives of India while bathing.” Like Simpson’s other views of India, this watercolour was not sold at the exhibition and instead remained in the artist’s possession until his death in 1899. It was offered to the British Museum by his widow, Maria Eliza Simpson, in 1900.
For more information about Simpson’s work in India, see 1900,0411.37. Other works by this artist in the collection of the British Museum include documentary style drawings of the Crimea (see reg. no. 1971,0515.10), views of archaeological sites in Asia Minor (see reg. no. 1900,0411.40) as well as one view of Magdala in present day Ethiopia (see reg. no. 1900,0411.33).
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
1876 May-Jul, Burlington Gallery, 191 Piccadilly, 'India "Special"', no. 51
1987 Feb 5 - May 25, BM, 'An A-Z of P&D'
- Acquisition date
- 1900
- Acquisition notes
- Purchased from Maria Eliza Simpson for £100 together with 1900,0411.33 to 41.
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- 1900,0411.36
