THERESA KELLEY WORKSHOP READINGS
"Eyes on the Metropole: Seeing London and Beyond"
By Sharon M. Twigg and Theresa M. Kelley
"Eyes on the Metropole: Seeing London and Beyond"
By Sharon M. Twigg and Theresa M. Kelley
This illustration appeared in Rudolph Ackermann's The Microcosm of London in 1808, accompanied by the following text:
THE GREAT ROOM AT THE ROYAL ACADEMY, AT THE TIMEOF
AN EXHIBITION
This most spirited drawing is covered with
the representation of pictures and figures, in a manner with which it would
not be easy to find one with which it could be paralleled; nor would it
be easy to find any other artist, except Mr. Rowlandson, who was capable
of displaying so much separate manner in the delineations placed on the
walls, and such an infinite variety of small figures, contrasted with each
other in a way so peculiarly happy, and marked with such appropriate character.
The peculiar mode by which different persons shew the earnestness with
which they contemplate what they are inspecting, and display an absorbed
attention to the objects before them, is incomparably delineated; and the
whole forms an admirable little picture of that busy scene, in which such
crowds are annually engaged watching the progress of the fine arts as annually
exhibited at the Royal Academy.
To point out any number of figures as peculiarly
entitled to attention, would be an insult to the spectator, as very many
would necessarily be left out of the catalogue, and every man of taste
will discern them at a glance. (i.10)
The Royal Academy moved from its location in Pall
Mall to Somerset House in 1780, and in the Great Room depicted here oil
paintings were hung, according to their perceived importance, closer to
or further from the mid-line that skirted the room. Rowlandson's work is
one of many visual representations made of Royal Academy exhibitions, offering
"a generalized rendering" rather than a particular show (Matheson 49).
The first visual representation of an exhibition is Richard Earldom's mezzotint
after Charles Brandoin in 1771, and the earliest published visual is William
Angus's Representation of the Exhibition, of Paintings, at Somerset House
after Daniel Dodd in 1784 (Matheson 40, 44).
In Rowlandson's version, as in others, several
figures consult their exhibition catalogues. As C.S. Matheson notes, the
Society of Artists of Great Britain maked the purchase of the exhibition
catalogue mandatory in 1761, at the same time raising its price to one
shilling in an effort to maintain a minimum class of visitors (40). This
practice continued at Somerset House, in spite of the building's support
by public expense (42). Interestingly enough, Ackerman's final comment
on the illustration could be applied as easily to the figures represented
in the work, who, in spite of their own catalogues, were men and women
of the requisite taste (and shillings) needed to attend an art exhibition.
Matheson explains that, in addition to the Royal Academy's exhibition catalogues,
"the [retrospective exhibition] prints suggest how catalogues directed
the physical movement of the spectators within the gallery, modified their
gazes (especially in the case of female viewers) and shaped social interactions"
(39).
This work depicts the staircase leading to the Great Room at Somerset House. The later version, circulated as a print, replaces the urn at the bottom of the staircase in the original with a statue of the Callipygian Venus (Kriz 57).
Dian K. Kriz recounts a number of commentaries regarding the staircase that inspired Rowlandson's work, dating back to 1785, which occur in reviews of the exhibitions "that addressed the exhibition as a place where art and female bodies vied for the male gaze" (57). Two make particular reference to the original phenomena that Rowlandson spoofs in his caricature. The Morning Post, 3 May 1785, comments that "there are two descriptions of persons who visit the Royal Academyósome perambulate the rooms to view the headsóothers remain at the bottom of the stairs to contemplate the legs"; while the World, Fashionable Advertiser, 8 May 1787, notes that "Exhibitions are now the rageóand though some may have more merit, yet certainly none has so much attraction as that at Somerset House; for, besides the exhibition of pictures living and inanimate, there is the raree-show [peep show] of neat ancles up the stair-caseówhich is not less inviting" (qt. in Kriz 57-8).
The jokes about "living" pictures that provide additional, or even preferred, entertainment to the Royal Academy's visitors find their parallel in anxiety over the lifelike nature of those inanimate, but no less threatening, nude figures. If certain men enjoy the parade of "neat ancles," no decent woman would enjoy nude male sculpture. One writer in the Morning Post and Daily Advertiser, 15 May 1780, "charges the Academy with being insensitive to female visitors, who, upon entering certain rooms in the Academy's new quarters, were suddenly and unexpectedly confronted with (reproductions of) classical sculptures of the male nude that, like Rowlandson's Callipygian Venus, all but threaten to come alive" (Kriz 58). He exhorts, "Now in the plentitude of your discretion, my good cousins! How comes it to pass that these same statues with their nudities exposed, are without reserve laid open to the indiscriminate view of the female part of your visitors? Has decency totally left the direction of the institution; or has the unblushing countenance of a P[rostitute?] laughed you out of the sense of delicacy, that those figures which heretofore deterred lading from ever entering the apartments of the Old Academy, are now drawn out in the full face of day, and obtruded on their view without the least reserve?" (qt. in Kriz 58). The Morning Herald, 9 May 1786 (rept. in the Daily Universal Register, 10 May 1786), goes so far as to compare this English institution unfavorably with the French: "The French who visit our exhibitionsÖare shocked at the indelicacy of placing the portraits of notorious prostitutes, triumphing as it were in vice, close to the pictures of women of rank and virtue. In Paris, such portraits would on no account be admitted" (qt. in Kriz 60).
In spite of these contemporary objections, Kriz notes that Rowlandson's visual commentary does not necessarily take the same critical tone: "Although some of Rowlandson's fashionable visitors were brought low by their tumble on the Academy's stairs, it is not necessarily the case that the verbal and visual burlesque leveled at the exhibition between May and July served to discredit the event or the institution that sponsored it. Caricature developed as an aristocratic form, and functioned to bond together individuals within a social group: it worked as a type of in-joke, rather than censure" (Kriz 62).
4. The Rejected Pictures, &c. with Descriptive
Sketches of the Several Composition, London: R.S. Kirby, 1815.
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5. "Panorama of London from the Albion Mills,
Southwark," Robert Barker, from original sketches by Henry Aston Barker
(1791, six aquatint engravings).
Notice that the left margin of the first segment
coincides with the right margin of the last segment. The six parts constitute
a 360 degree view.
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6.
Burford's Panorama, Leicester Square: cross section, from Robert Mitchell's
Plans and Views in Perspective of Buildings Erected in England and Scotland
(1801, aquatint).
Mitchell was the panorama's architect.
7.
"Orientation plan for the Panorama of London, 1792" (Guildhall Library,
Corporation of London).
These guides could be purchased at the exhibit,
and became standard fare over the next 30 years (Oettermann 103).
Altick provides the following history of this
work's creation in The Shows of London:
In the winter of 1790-91 Barker sent his son,
then sixteen, to the roof of the highest landmark between St. Paul's and
Westminster Abbey, the Albion sugar mills at the Southwark end of Blackfriars
Bridge, to sketch as much as he could see from that vantage point. The
choice of subject was as astute as the choice of moment was fortunate.
Londoners' taste for detailed pictorial representations of their metropolis
had been sharpened by the many paintings Samuel Scott had made of the Thames
from Greenwich to Twickenham, as well as by Caneletto's much-admired portrayals.
The site was utilized just in time, for the Albion mills burned to the
ground on 3 March, just after the young man completed his sketches. From
these his father painted a canvas of 1,479 square feet, showing not only
all architectural and topographical features but such homely touches as
workmen repairing the road at the approach to the bridge, a man carrying
a sack on his back, and a woman looking down from the window of a house
in nearby Albion Place at someone on the doorstep. Originally the painting
was only somewhat "more than half a circle," but later it was made into
a complete one. This was shown in the spring of 1792 at a new location,
a rough building behind 28 Castle Street, Leicester Square, opposite Hunter's
anatomical museum. (132)
The precise location was Barker's back garden. The Times carried the following advertisement for this showing on January 10, 1792:
PANORAMA
The public are most respectfully informed
that the subject of the PANORAMA painted by R. Barker, Patentee for the
invention, is a view-at-a-glance of the CITIES OF LONDON and WESTMINSTER,
comprehending the three bridges, represented in one Painting, containing
1479 square feet, which appears as large and in every respect the same
as reality. The observers of this Picture being by painting only deceived
as to suppose themselves on the Albion Mills from which the view was taken.
The PANORAMA is open for inspections from
NINE o'clock every Morning, till FOUR in the Afternoon.
Admittance One Shilling.
No. 28, Castle Street, Leicester Square.
(qt. in Oettermann 101)
The "London" panorama next showed at Burford's Panorama at Leicester Square, a building in the form of a rotunda designed and patented by Barker. It consisted of two levels for displaying a large and a smaller panorama at the same time. It opened in 1794, and first panoramas shown were the London panorama in the upper circle; and the Russian grand fleet at Spithead in the lower circle. The upper, smaller level was suspended from the rafters inside the larger one. Construction included a central pillar, two sets of skylights, and a staircase to lower observation platform just inside main entrance. Stairs to upper platform were on the outside of the building and over a walkway above the lower level (Altick 133; Oettermann 104).
The September 5, 1793 advertisement for first
show of "London" in Burford's Panorama ran in The Times:
Barker's New Panorama of Spithead
Panorama, Leicester Square
by Royal Patent
The present subject contains 10,000 square feet
and is a view of the Grand Fleet moored at Spithead, being the Russian
armament. The Panorama at No. 28, Castle Street, is a view of London and
Westminster.
(qt. in Oettermann 105)
"'The king,'" recalled Henry Barker many years later, "'asked many questions; and when answered, turned round to Lord Harcourt, to whom he gave the answer verbatim, always beginning with He says so-and-so. His majesty had a large gold-headed cane, which he pointed with, and sometimes put into my hand, making me stoop down in a line with it, to be informed of an object so small that I could not otherwise understand him.' Queen Charlotte said she felt seasick" (qt. in Altick 133-34). The "London" panorama later toured in Europe, with the last known showing in Vienna in 1801. The original panorama has been lost. Visitors could purchase six aquatints (engravings by Henry Barker, based on his own sketches and colored by Frederick Birnie) that reproduced the show in miniature (Oettermann 103).
John Ruskin later reflected on the panorama as
a valuable tool that provided viewers with a wider experience of the world.
While visiting Milan itself, Ruskin recalls seeing a panorama of the same
city at Burford's Panorama:
I had been partly prepared for this view [of
the city from the cathedral roof] by the admirable presentation of it in
London a year or two before, in a great exhibition of which the vanishing
has been in later life a greatly felt loss to me,--Burford's panorama in
Leicester Square, which was an educational institution of the highest and
purest value, and ought to have been supported by the government as one
of the most beneficial school instruments in London. There I had seen,
exquisitely painted, the view from the roof of Milan Cathedral, when I
had no hope of ever seeing the reality, but with a joy and wonder of the
deepest;--and now to be there indeed, made a deep wonder become fathomless.
(from Praeterita: TheAutobiography of John Ruskin [Oxford 1978] 105-6;
qt. in Oettermann 114)
Panoramas on display at Burford's, over thirty of which "were painted from drawings made by one or another of the proprietors," included views of Messina, Flushing, Lisbon, Badajoz, Vittoria, Elba, Waterloo, Dover, Paris, Venice, Naples, Lausanne, the Bernese Alps, Pompeii, Malta, Edinburgh, Constantinople, Amsterdam, Geneva, Florence, Milan, Antwerp, Stirling, New York City, Niagara Falls, Lago Maggiore, Mont Blanc, Rome, the Roman Colosseum, Coblenz, Vienna, Switzerland from the Rigi, Killarney, and Salzburg (Altick 138). Panoramas at Leicester could run for as little as a few months up to three years (a picture of Athens), averaging about a year in the late forties and fifties. Burford's Panorama closed on December 12, 1863 (Altick 140).
8. The Storming of Seringapatam, Robert Ker
Porter; assisted by William Mulready (1800).
Originally shown in the Lyceum. Destroyed by
fire.
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9. Description of The Storming of Seringapatam,
in Public Characters of 1800-1801. vol. 10. London: R. Phillips, 1801.
174-76.
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The Tiger and the Thistle: Tipu Sultan and the Scots of India offer a detailed description of the history of the Tipu Sultan and the battle of Seringapatam, and may be found at. www.nationalgalleries.org.uk/tipu/india.htm (The National Galleries of Scotland, 2000).
This work depicts "the decisive victory of the British in their series of campaigns to seize control of southern India. In 1799 at the final siege of Seringapatam they defeated and killed the nawab of Mysore, Tipu Sultan, and annexed his territories. The sensational news took months to reach England" (Oettermann 115). The work was shown at the Lyceum in the Strand, which "housed a large variety of exhibitionsóastronomical demonstrations, air balloons, waxworks, 'philosophical fireworks,' boxing matches, circuses, programs of humorous recitations, and concerts" (Altick 54). Porter preferred to refer to his the work as a coup d'oeil rather than as a panorama since this scene was a half or three-quarter circle (as were all his large works, except for last one [Oettermann 115]). None except Barker exhibited a full 360 degree panorama. Some views, although very large, were slightly concave or even flat (Altick 136). Scenes of recent military history were quite popular, and offered the public a "kind of instant-history painting" (Altick 136).
So popular was this work that Public Characters of 1800-1801 included Porter among other distinguished individuals in its collection. Public Characters, which published an annual volume of biographical sketches from 1798 to 1810, included religious and political luminaries of the State, as well as a smaller selection of writers and painters. This memoir opens with the assertion that "there can be no plausible reason why a RAFFAELLE or a MICHAEL ANGELO should not be born in Britain, where the attributes of a sister art have so gloriously displayed themselves round the brows of a MILTON and a SHAKESPEARE!" (170). After this comparison, the memoir defends Porter against envious criticism: "But the unfriendly spirit of individual criticism will have little weight, when placed in the scale with popular admiration; and the hundreds who daily contemplate the celebrated picture of this artist, will, by their opinions, establish a reputation which the whisperings of envy will not have the power to depreciate" (171). Porter's entry ends with a lengthy description of the actual painting, reproduced here.
Public Characters offers this positive critique of the work: "for spirit of conception, correctness of arrangement, and harmony of colouring, [a work] has rarely been equaled. The size of the picture is such as to contain nearly seven hundred figures as large as life; while the variety of groups dispersed over the busy scenery, renders it an [sic] once an interesting and an astonishing performance" (172). Another review comes from the 1801 Journal London und Paris: "Those people were few in number who did not go several times to the Lyceum in the Strand to see the renowned painting of an unforgettable occurrence, for in addition to seeing accurate portraits of the main participants, almost all visitors were stirred by the sight of event on the subcontinent in which their nation has been so deeply engaged. Tipu had threatened to cut off England's right arm, but here one saw his stronghold laid to waste and the slain ruler himself among the corpses" (7:105-6; qt. in Oetterman 115).
In Thomas Frognall Dibdin's Reminiscences of a
Literary Life, Porter's sister Jane recalls,
The historical picture of the Taking of Seringapatam
[in the fourth Mysore War, 1799] was painted by my dear brother Robert,
at the age of nineteen. It was two hundred and odd feet long; the proportioned
height I have now forgotten. But I remember, when I first saw the vast
expanse of vacant canvas stretched along, or rather in a semicircle, against
the wall of the great room in the Lyceum, where he painted it, I was terrified
at the daring of his undertaking. I could not conceive that he could cover
that immense space with the subject he intended, under a year's time at
least, butóand it is indeed marvellous!óhe did it in SIX WEEKS! But he
worked on it every day (except Sundays) during those weeks, from sunrise
until dark. It was finished during the time the committees of the Royal
Academy were sitting at Somerset-house, respecting the hanging of the pictures
there for that year's exhibition; therefore, it must have been towards
the latter end of April. No artist had seen the painting of Seringapatam
during its progress; but when it was completed, my brother invited his
revered old friend Mr. West (the then President of the Royal Academy) to
come and look at the picture, and give him his opinion of it, ere it should
be opened to the public view. Ö He went over from the Lyceum, on the morning
which he had called to see my brother and his finished painting, to Somerset-house,
where the Committee had been awaiting his presence above an hour. "What
has detained our President so long?" enquired Sir Thomas Lawrence of him,
on his entrance. "A WONDER!" returned he, "a WONDER OF THE WORLD!óI never
saw anything like it!óa picture of two hundred foot dimensions, painted
by that boy KER PORTER, in six weeks! And as admirably done as it could
have been by the best historical painter amongst us in as many months!"
(London 1836, I:143-46n; qt. in Altick, The Shows of London, 135)
Dibdin himself recalls his own experience of viewing
the work
The learned were amazed, and the unlearned enraptured.
I can never forget its first impression upon my own mind. It was as a thing
dropped down from the cloudsóall fire, energy, intelligence, and animation.
You looked a second time, the figures moved, and were commingled in hot
and
bloody fight. You saw the flash of the cannon, the glitter of the bayonet,
the gleam of the falchion. You longed to be leaping from crag to crag with
Sir David Baird, who is hallooing his men on to victory! Then, again, you
seemed to be listening to the groans of the wounded and the dyingóand more
than one female was carried out swooning. The oriental dress, the jewelled
turban, the curved and ponderous scymitaróthese were among the prime objects
with Sir Robert's pencil: and he touched and treated them to the very spirit
and letter of the truth. The colouring, too, was good and sound throughout.
The accessories were strikingly characteristicórock, earth, and water,
had its peculiar and happy touch; and the accompaniments about the sally-port,
half choked up with the bodies of the dead, made you look on with a shuddering
awe, and retreat as you shuddered. The public poured in by hundreds and
thousands for even a transient gazeófor such a sight was altogether as
marvelous as it was novel. You carried it home, and did nothing but think
of it, talk of it, and dream of it. And all this by a young man of NINETEEN!
(Reminiscences, London 1836, I: 146-48; qt. in Altick, The Shows of London)
The Daniells
Thomas Daniell had been working and exhibiting
at the Royal Academy for about ten years when, in 1784, he received the
permission he had requested to visit India by the East India Company in
order to pursue his work as an engraver. His nephew William accompanied
him as his assistant, gradually becoming a partner in their artistic endeavors
(Mahajan 15). They arrived in Calcutta in 1786. Although William Hodges
was the first professional British landscape artist to reach India, the
Daniells were the first Europeans to travel in certain parts of the country
(Mahajan 15, 63).
After nine and a half years of travel, the Daniells
returned to England in September 1794 (Archer 192). From their drawings
and completed watercolors, which numbered in the hundreds, the Daniells
selected views for engraving in aquatint (Mahajan 129). Although they initially
planned two aquatint series, their success inspired four more series over
the next ten years. The first three series share the title Oriental Scenery:
Twenty-four Views in Hindoostan, and appeared in March 1795, August 1797,
and June 1801. The fourth is titled Twenty-four Landscapes: Views in Hindoostan
(May 1807); the fifth, Antiquities of India (issued in two parts 1799-1808);
and the sixth, Hindoo Excavations in the Mountain of Ellora near Aurungabad
in the Decan, in Twenty-four Views (1803). A complete set cost ?210. A
less expensive, smaller edition (largely with black and white engravings)
was published between 1812 and 1816, and another issue in 1816 (Mahajan
130).
Joseph Farington, a member of the Royal Academy,
records in his diary on August 1, 1805, that "I moved that the Daniell's
whole work of East India Views be purchased for the Royal Academy. It was
warmly seconded by Loutherbourg and much approved by allóand the vote was
[carried] unanimously" (qt. in Mahajan 131). Both artists exhibited oil
paintings at the Royal Academy and the British Institution after their
return in 1794 (Archer 222).
10.
Gate of the Loll-Baug, at Fyzabad, Thomas and William Daniell
(1 October 1801, colored aquatint, c. 18 x
24 in. [45 x 61 cm.]). Executed July 11-12, 1798. Plate inscribed: Drawn
& engraved by Thos. & Wm. Daniell [and serial number]. Published
as the Act directs by Thos. Daniell, Howland Street, Fitzroy Square [and
date]. Appears as no. 3 in Oriental Scenery: Twenty-four Views in Hindoostan,
Drawn and engraved by Thomas and William Daniell, and, with permission,
respectfully dedicated to the Right Honourable George Viscount Lewisham,
President of the Board of Commissioners for the Affairs of India, London,
June 1801 (Archer 234).
A note on spelling: The original spelling used
in work titles has been kept.
Mildred Archer provides the following context
for this work:
Faizabad had been the capital of Oudh under Shuja-ud-Daula
(ruled 1754-75), and though his son had moved the capital back to LucknowÖit
was still an impressive city. It had a great market which was entered through
a three-arched gateway, and Shuja's palace was described by [William]
Hodges in 1782 as 'a vast buildingÖhaving several areas or courts, and
many separate buildings in them'. Shuja had also laid out three gardens,
one of them the Lal Bagh (Red Garden), the gate of which is seen here.
(114)
"Loll Bhaug," writes Thomas Daniell, "is the name
given to a garden made by Nawaub Sujah al Dowla. The gate is elegantly
designed, and highly enriched with ornaments: its principal apartment is
over the entrance, to which are attached two balconies; the roof is flat
and terraced. The surrounding wall is of stone stuccoed, and at the angles
are pavilions of an octagonal form. This garden is at a considerable distance
from the palace, a circumstance not unusual in the opulent of India; places
of this description, which may truly be called pleasure gardens, are generally
large, intersected by straight paved walks, bordered with shrubs and flowers,
and contain a variety of the most delicate fruits; they are embellished
with several very elegant pavilions, where the master occasionally seats
himself to enjoy his Hooka, singing, dancing, etc. to which may also be
added the exercise of swinging, whirling in the Hindola, and various other
amusements, with which the Indians are much delighted" (from the octavo
book of comments issued with each part of Oriental Scenery, qt. in Archer
114)
The technique of aquatinting allows tones, rather
than lines, to be printed from a copper plate, and is particularly suited
for reproducing watercolors (Mahajan 129). Archer tells us that the "two
artists prepared almost all the plates themselves," and "employ[ed] colourists
only to add the small touches of local colour in the figures or in clumps
of vegetation in the foreground." In addition to the reddish-brown ink
commonly used for printing when aquatinting was new to England, the Daniells
"used sepia, grey and bluish grey" in their prints (224-5).
11.
Palace of Nawaub Suja Dowla, at Lucnow, Thomas and William Daniell
(1 October 1802, colored aquatint, c. 18 x
24 in. [45 x 61 cm.]). Executed between July-October 1789. Plate inscribed:
Drawn & engraved by Thos. & Wm. Daniell [and serial number]. Published
as the Act directs by Thos. Danell, Howland Street, Fitzroy Square [and
date]. Appears as no. 16 in Oriental Scenery: Twenty-four Views in Hindoostan,
Drawn and engraved by Thomas and William Daniell, and, with permission,
respectfully dedicated to the Right Honourable George Viscount Lewisham,
President of the Board of Commissioners for the Affairs of India, London,
June 1801 (Archer 234).
According to Archer,
The Nawabs of Oudh were nominally governors of
a large province of the Mughal Empire, but as Mughal power declined they
became virtually independent. Oudh was one of the most fertile areas of
Upper India and its capital, Lucknow, became a flourishing and beautiful
city. Nawab Shuja-ud-Daula spent the first eleven years of his reign at
Lucknow and built himself a palace there. In 1764, however, he was defeated
at the battle of Buxar, with the result that Oudh lost some of its territory
to the British and Shuja moved his capital to a more central position at
Faizabad. After his death, his son, Asaf-ud-Daula, returned to Lucknow
and started to rebuild the city on a grandiose scale. It was during this
period that the Daniells arrived there [in July 1798]. (114)
The picture shows the palace built by Shuja some
time between 1754 and 1764 (Archer 114).
Colonel Claude Martin (later Major-General),
a French officer employed by Nawab Asaf-ud-daula of Avadh, arranged a meeting
for the Daniells with the Nawab. William recorded this visit in his journal:
"The Nawab came about 7oCÖ[and] we showed him our drawings also the Calcutta
Views which he seemed pleased with & expressed a wish of having a number
of Views of Lucknow done in the same manner," although the Daniells' compositions
of Lucknow and Fyzabad did not secure the commissions they had hoped for
(qt. in Mahajan 63).
12.
The Water-fall at Puppanassum, in the Tinnevelly District, Thomas and William
Daniell
(1 January 1804, colored aquatint, c. 18 x
24 in. [45 x 61 cm.]). Executed August 1792. Plate inscribed: Drawn &
engraved by Thos. & Wm. Daniell [and serial number]. Published as the
Act directs by Thos. Daniell, Howland Street, Fitzroy Square [and date].
Appears as no. 2 in Twenty-Four Landscapes. Views in Hindoostan. (part
4 of Oriental Scenery). Drawn and engraved by Thomas & William Daniell.
With permission respectfully dedicated to the Right Honourable George O'Brien,
Earl of Egremont, London. May 1807 (Archer 235).
13. The Water-fall at Puppanassum, in the Tinnevelly District, Thomas Daniell (c. 1792, oil on canvas, 27 ½ x 36 in [70 x 91 cm]). Private collection.
14.
Fall of the Rhine at Schaffhausen J.M.W. Turner (oil on canvas,
57 x 92 in. [144.7 x 233.7 cm]), exhibited R.A. 1806 (182).
Fifteen versions of this scene by the Daniells
are known to exist, in the form of drawings, pencil and wash, watercolors,
engravings and oils (Mahajan 97).
Archer provides this information about the site
depicted: "This magnificent cataract is held by Hindoos in great veneration,
and is accordingly visited by innumerable devotees. The only approach to
it is by a single path on the right hand side of the valley, whence, though
near to the fall, it cannot be seen, owing to the interposition of a large
mass of rock that projects into the water. The path is continued up the
face of this rock by means of a flight of steps; and at the summit a gate
is so placed, that all visitors must of necessity pass through it, but
which nevertheless readily opens to all who are provided with a small fee
for the Brahmins that guard the sacred portal" (177). According to
Thomas Daniell, "Nothing can be more grand and impressive than when, on
first throwing open the gate, this extraordinary scene bursts upon the
sightÖaccompanied by a noise so tremendous, that, comparatively, all other
sounds are but whispers" (octavo book, qt. in Archer 177).
15.
The Rope Bridge At Sirinagur, Thomas and William Daniell ( 1 January
1805, colored aquatint, c. 18 x 24 in. [45 x 61 cm.]). Executed April 28,
1798. Plate inscribed: Drawn & engraved by Thos. & Wm. Daniell
[and serial number]. Published as the Act directs by Thos. Daniell, Howland
Street, Fitzroy Square [and date]. Appears as no. 23 in Twenty-Four Landscapes.
Views in Hindoostan. (part 4 of Oriental Scenery). Drawn and engraved by
Thomas & William Daniell. With permission respectfully dedicated to
the Right Honourable George O'Brien, Earl of Egremont, London. May 1807
(Archer 235).
The two artists obtained permission from the
Raja of Garhwal to travel to Srinagar in the Garhwal Himalayas. They set
out April 18, 1798, escorted by two British officers and fifty sepoys.
They were the first Europeans to travel in this region (Mahajan 26-7).
In Oriental Scenery, they describe the rope bridge as "so simple that it
may be soon erected and soon removed. On each side of the river two strong
and lofty poles are fixed in the ground, and kept together with transverse
pieces at their upper ends, over which large ropes, made fast to the rocks
or ground, are stretched and extended from side to side. From the bottom
of these upright poles are carried other ropes, which are drawn towards
the upper ones by a lacing of cords, while flat pieces of bamboo are so
fastened to the lower cords as to form a tolerably commodious footway"
(qt. in Mahajan 28). The Daniells made at least nine versions of this scene
(Mahajan 28).
During the Daniells' visit, "[t]he Raja of Srinagar
was in the midst of one of his recurring feuds with his brother; news was
received that the latter's forces were approaching the town, and expect
to arrive within two hours" (Archer 90). The Raja visited them supposedly
to examine the "working of the watch and pistols" but in actuality to secure
the Daniells' guard to his side in the dispute (Mahajan 29). William Daniell
writes in his journal that,
Soon after breakfast some of the Rajahs attendants
waited on us & attempted to persuade us that it was the Rajahs wish
that we would cross the River (Ganges) as he thought that our present situation
was not perfectly safeÖHowever they were given to understand that we had
not the least fear of remaining where we were, which answer seemed to surprise
themÖ.After they left us, Mr Sturmer Un & self went to the Bridge of
Ropes over the Ganges. In consequence of the aforesaid news the inhabitants
of Sirinagur were crossing the River as Quick as possibleóthey crowded
on the Bridge so fast that we thought at times it would have broke, taking
their Chesebust [luggage], Cots &c with them. (qt. in Archer 90)
As a result of their work at Srinagar, James
Rennel corrected his map of India showing the location of the Ganges River:
"I findÖthat I was misled, by the map of the Ganges, made from the materials
furnished by the late M. Tieffentaller; having, on the authority of that
map, placed the town of Sirinagur (the capital of a district of the same
name) on the north of the Hurdwar; whereas it appears by the observations
of some English gentlemen [Captain John Guthrie and Thomas Daniell], who
visited Sirinagur in 1798, to lie nearly to the ENE of HurdwarÖ.Some geographical
informationÖconcerning the upper part of the course of the Ganges, and
its principal branches, appears at the foot of a very characteristic, and
beautiful sketch drawn by Mr. Daniel [sic] [exhibiting] that firm attachment
to truth, and honesty of discrimination, which I have observed in all the
works of this ingenious artistÖthe Alucknundra [Alaknanda] river, which
passes under Sirinagur, is made perfectly distinct from the Baghyretty
[Bhagirathi]" and furthermore, "the Baghyretty (which I take to be the
true head of the Ganges) and Alucknandra rivers, the former from the N,
and the latter from the NE, join their streams at Deuprag [Devaprayag]Öat
a few miles distance below Sirinagur and then form the proper Ganges of
Hindoostan; which afterwards issues through mount Sewalick, at Hurdwar."
(Memoir of a Map of Hindoostan, 1793; qt. in Mahajan 29)
Oriental Scenery proved immensely popular, not
only coming out in both expensive and cheaper versions, but garnering glowing
reviews in the press. A writer for The British Critic concedes in March
1805 that "The whole is, to our taste and apprehension, as beautiful in
execution, as it is possible for any views to be, which are not entirely
drawings. The union of engraving with colouring cannot, we conceive, certainly
will not easily, be carried to higher excellence" (qt. in Archer 225).
After the small quarto version had been published, in 1817, a reviewer
extols the art of engraving in A Review of Fine Arts: "An eminent engraverÖis
no sinecure man; no drone in the British hive, no callous receiver of the
hard-earned property of others; no mean stipendiary of a corrupt administration.
His work is the efficient and fancy-delighting result of severe toil and
inquisitive looking at elemental nature. In transcribing her on copper
at an immense expense of time and talent, he procures the intelligent and
refined portion of the community a very considerable, cheap, and elegant
addition to their enjoyment" (qt. in Archer 225). And the Monthly Magazine
offers the following critique: "The execution of these drawings is indeed
masterly; there is every reason to confide in the fidelity of the representations;
and the effect produced by this rich and splendid display of oriental scenery
is truly striking. Every thing is drawn with the most astonishing accuracy.
The animals, trees, and plants, are studies for the naturalist. The views
were taken by Mr. Daniell, with singular perseverance and industry, during
a long residence in India" (qt. in Archer 226-7).
16.
Staffordshire earthenware transfer-printed with motifs from Oriental Scenery
(c. 1810-20; a meat dish, probably by the firm of John and George Rogers,
Longport; a plate by J.&R. Riley, Burslem; and jug). Private collection.
The popularity of the Daniells' work inspired
productions in ceramics and wallpaper, which used images from Oriental
Scenery. In 1810-1820, Staffordshire blue-and-white pottery adopted the
images, at times in an unusual hodge-podge formed from more than one scene.
French manufacturers produced a panoramic wallpaper, L'Indoustan, in 1812,
based on the Daniells' engravings (produced by Jean Zuber of Rixheim near
Mulhouse, Haut-Rhin and probably designed by Mongin; Archer 228). Designer
Henry Repton took inspiration from the Daniells' and other artists' images
of India in his plans for the Prince Regent's Pavilion at Brighton (Archer
232). Although his designs were never built, Repton published his plans
in 1808 with an acknowledgment to "my ingenious friend Mr T. Daniell" (qt.
in Archer 233).
Omai, or, a Trip round the World
17.
Playbill for Omai, as performed on January 20, 1786. National Library of
Australia (NK 893)
18.
Portrait of Omai (nd), Sir Joshua Reynolds (pencil drawing), National Library
of Australia (NK 9670)
This pantomime presents a fictional account of
the experiences of Omai, "the first Polynesian visitor to England and a
well known character of the time" who traveled to England aboard Captain
Cook's second ship the Adventure, commanded by Captian Tobias Furneaux,
during the Second voyage. He returned to the island of Huaheine on the
Third voyage. First performed December 20, 1785, at Covent Garden, it was
a collaboration among several artists. Philippe Jacques de Loutherbourg
(1740-1812) designed the work; William Shield served as the composer; John
O'Keeffe wrote the libretto; John Webber served as the consultant on dress
and decoration; and scenery painters included Matthew William Peters, John
Inigo Richards, and Robert Carver. Actors included Mrs. Inchbald, Mr. Delpini,
Mr. Edwin and Mr. Kennedy (Joppien 81; all further references are
to this work).
Two manuscripts are known to exist, although
accounts in daily newspapers often carried printed sections of the work
in their reviews. The first manuscript is titled Harlequin Omai, a Pantomime
design'd by Mr. Loutherberg [sic] 1785 (Theatre Museum, Victoria and Albert
Museum). The second, which separates the figure of Harlequin Omai into
two characters, is a printed edition titled A Short Account of the New
Pantomime Called Omai, or A Trip round the World (85). The work has two
acts of nine and ten scenes, respectively (n.27, 105).
John Webber had traveled with Cook's last expedition
as the official draughtsman, and was a "longstanding acquaintance" of Loutherbourg's.
Whereas "Webber guaranteed authenticity and topographical verity, Loutherbourg
promised superb execution of all designs and decorations" (83). Rüdiger
Joppien describes the work as "the joint achievement of two artist. While
it had been Webber's role to supply a collection of extremely rare and
attractive visual material, it was Loutherbourg's practical experience
with scenery, his talent for organisation and his conception of the pantomime
as a whole, that transformed Webber's drawings into the reality of the
stage" designing the sets and supervising decorations (84).
Joppien provides the following plot description:
When the play opens the scene of action is a
marae, a sacred ground on Otaheite, by moonlight. Otoo, father of Omai
and descendant from the legal kings, is seen among the tombs invoking the
spirits of his ancestors that his son may be seated on the throne. A sacrifice
blazes up and Towha, the supreme god of the island appears in the disguise
of a Chief Mourner, accompanied by shows of hail and an eclipse of the
moon. Towha promises his support for Omai but proposes that he should first
go to England to woo Londina, daughter of Britannia. At this point the
scene changes to a vision showing Britannia sitting on a rock holding her
daughter Londina by the hand. The next scene is played inside a sacred
hut of the Grand Chiefs, which is adorned with life-size statues of the
gods. Here Otoo instructs Omai concerning his mission, but they are disturbed
by the appearance of Oedidee, another pretender to the throne, who is backed
up by Oberea, a powerful enchantress. Omai disembarks at Plymouth, followed
by Harlequin as his servant. In the haughty Spaniard Don Struttolando who
happens to arrive in Plymouth at the same time, Omai meets a rival for
the hand of Londina. The action then proceeds to London where the two parties
meet again in Kensington Gardens. During this scene, Hyde Park is seen
in the background with horses, gigs and pedestrians. Omai meets Londina
and they fall in love at first sight. As her father is opposed to their
union Omai carries her away. Harlequin likewise manages to elope with Colombine,
servant to Londina, and from this moment the action of flight and pursuit,
the trip around the world, begins. (85)
Intervening pursuit scenes include the shores
of Kamtchatka; a "dreary island"; the Friendly Islands; the Sandwich Islands;
the Tahitian fleet upon the ocean; "a delicious shrubbery by moonlight";
Oberea's magical cave; until finally Omai is installed as king of Otaheite,
and Londina as queen. A procession follows, including people from Otaheite,
New Zealand, Tanna, the Marquesas, the Friendly Islands, the Sandwich Islands,
Easter Island, Asia, the Tchutzki Peninsula, Kamtchatka, Nootka Sound,
Oonalashak, and Prince William Sound. Then, an English Captain presents
Omai with an English sword, and "a mad prophetÖpredicts eternal friendship
between Great Britain and the Kingdom of Otaheite." Finally, a "painting
of the apotheosis of Captain Cook being crowned by Britannia and Fame,
is lowered from the clouds" (86).
19.
Costume designs, clockwise: Otoo, Towha in the dress of the chief mourner,
Oberea, and Towha in martial dress, P.J. de Loutherbourg (watercolor),
National Library of Australia
The costumes may be by Webber or Loutherbourg.
Loutherbourg used "pictorial sources outside Webber's oevre and even outside
the context of Cook's voyages" (92); for example, the figure of Towha "isÖlikelyÖcopied
from Woollett's engraving of the Fleet of Otaheite, assembled at Oparee,
after a drawing by [William] Hodges, in which Towha the admiral of the
Tahitian fleet is distinguished by the enormous size of his head dress
and the martial appearance of his breast-plate adorned with shark teeth"
(92).
Loutherbourg made use of Sir Ashton Lever's Holophusikon, "a private museum of natural history and ethnographic specimens in Leicester House," to give an authentic quality to the work's props. Lever was "one of the great collectors in eighteenth-century England," and his collection included items from all three of Cook's voyages (94). As Joppien tells us, "There can be little doubt that Loutherbourg actually visited Lever's museum, since a number of weapons in his sketch were exhibited there." Sarah Stone's sketchbook of the collection, now in the British Museum, helps to confirm this (95).
20.
Scene models: Kensington Gardens in Omai; Inside a Jourt in Omai. P.J.
de Loutherbourg, Departments of Prints and Drawings, Victoria & Albert
Museum, London (E.158-1937; E.157-1937)
Loutherbourg served as the principal scene designer
of Drury Lane from 1772-81, under David Garrick and later Richard Brinsley
Sheridan (83). The "designs did not necessarily have to correspond to published
engravings" (88) but instead combined more than one. Loutherbourg also
relied on work by William Hodges (1744-97), who traveled on Cook's Second
voyage of 1772-75.
21.
The apotheosis of Captain Cook, P.J. de Loutherbourg and J. Webber (after),
etching. British Museum, Department of Prints and Drawings
Note: A sextant appears in this version, which
replaces the sword that Cook holds in the pencil and wash drawings (n.48,
107)
The Times and the London Chronicle attribute this work to the Rev. Matthew William Peters. The British Museum holds "an unpublished pencil drawing of an apotheosis of Cook by P.J. de Loutherbourg, which fits the description of the papers" (89). In addition, "A later and more accomplished version of this scene in watercolour appeared the salesrooms some years ago. Because it is of irregular shape it looks very much like a cloud piece which could have been part of the design for this scene. It was perhaps identical with a drawing which Webber owned and which was sold on his death in 1793. The new buyerÖpublished an etching of the apotheosis in which the allegorical trio of Cook, Britannia and Fame hover above a view of Kealakekua Bay and the scene of the murder of Cook. The etching identifies the representation Öas 'being from a design of P.J. de Loutherbourg, R.A.'" (89).
22-23. "Pantomimes: Omai." A review from The
Times. Dec. 28, 1785. p. 3, iss. 315, col. A
Image
#1
Image
#1
Bibliography
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Butler, Martin and Evelyn Joll. The Paintings of J.M.W. Turner. 2 vols. (rev.ed.). New Haven: Yale University Press, 1984.
Joppien, Rüdiger. "Philippe Jacques de Loutherbourg's Pantomime 'Omai, or, a Trip round the World' and the Artists of Captain Cook's Voyages." In The British Museum Yearbook 3: Captain Cook and the South Pacific. Ed. by T.C. Mitchell. London: The Trustees of the British Museum, 1979. 80-136.
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Kriz, Dian K. "'Stare Cases': Engendering the Public's Two Bodies at the Royal Academy of Arts." In Art on the Line: The Royal Academy Exhibitions at Somerset House, 1780-1836. Ed. David H. Solkin. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2001. 55-63.
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Public Characters of 1800-1801. vol. 10 (10 vols.). London: R. Phillips, 1801 (1798-1809; most of the first nine vols. contributed by Alexander Stephens). 170-176.
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