1 Item (pencil and ink wash on paper (73 x 46 cm.))
Container:
Item 1
Item 2
Item 3
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Aquatints
Drawings
Place:
India
Ellora Caves (India)
India -- Maharashtra -- Ellora Caves
Date:
1803
Scope and Contents:
Collection consists of two items: 1. "Oriental Scenery, Vol. 5. Hindoo Excavations in the Mountain of Ellora, near Aurungabad, in the Decan." Atlas folio, 77 x 59 cm., bound in contemporary quarter roan over marbled boards, with 24 hand-colored aquatints by James Wales under the direction of Thomas Daniell and an engraved aquatint title page. Self-published by Daniell in London, 1808. Depicts images of the rock-cut architecture at the Ellora Caves near Aurangabad. 2. Original pencil and wash sketch by Thomas Daniell, depicting a waterfront scene populated by a group of small figures, some holding umbrellas. Unsigned, undated, 73 x 46 cm, backed with thicker paper.
Arrangement:
2 folders, 3 linear feet
Biographical / Historical:
Thomas Daniell was an English landscape painter who spent eight years in India visiting historic sites and creating numerous images of what he saw. He was born in 1749 in Kingston-upon-Thames in England and was educated as a landscape painter. He struggled to find work in that medium and ended up finding employment as an engraver for the East India Company in India, with his fifteen-year-old nephew William acting as his assistant. He and William took three trips across India, creating numerous drawings of Muslim and Hindu cultural and historic sites to be sent back to Europe. Once they returned to England, they published their drawings between 1795 and 1808 in a six-volume work titled Oriental Scenery. Coming at a time when there was increased interest in the customs, culture and architecture of distant lands, Daniell's work offered a new vision of India that would influence both decorative artists and architects. Thomas Daniell spent the rest of his life in England, becoming a Royal Academician and a fellow at the Asiatic Society, the Royal Society, and the Society of Antiquaries. He died on March 19, 1840 in his home in Kensington, London.
On one of his trips across India he visited the caves at Ellora, an ancient religious site with thirty-five temples cut into the mountainside between 600-1000 CE. The shrines are excavated directly into the mountain and honor a mixture of Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain figures. Many of the walls are covered in stone carving of religious and mythological figures. The most famous temple is the Kailasa temple, which is 165 feet long and 96 feet high and covered in extensive Hindu carvings. The temple complex is located approximately 19 miles away from the city of Aurangabad in Maharashtra.
Local Numbers:
FSA A2001.04
Related Materials:
Daniell Collections, 1785-1833. Archives and Manuscripts, the British Library.
Papers relating to the painters Thomas and William Daniell, collected by Sir Evan Cotton for a projected book, 1928-1939. Archives and Manuscripts, the British Library.
The journals of William Daniell, 1788-1792. Archives and Manuscripts, The British Library.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
1 Print (albumen from wet collodion negative, 24 x 29 cm.)
1 Print (albumen from wet collodion negative, 23 x 29 cm.)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Prints
Photographs
Albumen prints
Place:
Ellora Caves (India)
India
Date:
circa 1870
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of three photographic prints, mounted on board, by Samuel Bourne: I. Albumen print from wet collodion negative, 24 x 29 cm., circa 1870, signed on the plate with the catalog number 1340. Penciled in the lower right corner "Kutab Minar with the Great Arch and From the West - Delhi". Photo depicts the Qutb Minar at Quwwat al-Islam mosque in Delhi. II. Albumen print from wet collodion negative, 23 x 29 cm., circa 1870. Depicts the Jain temple known as the Court of Indra at the Ellora Caves near Aurangabad in the Indian state of Maharashtra. III. Albumen print from wet collodion negative, 24 x 29 cm., circa 1870. Depicts the Bibi Ka Maqbara (Tomb of Rabia Durrani) in Aurangabad.
Arrangement:
Organized in one flat box.
Biographical / Historical:
Samuel Bourne (1834-1912) had already begun to earn recognition for his work in England, having exhibited at the London International Exhibition of 1862, when he decided to give up his position in a bank and depart for India to work as a professional photographer. He arrived in Calcutta early in 1863, initially setting up a partnership with William Howard. They moved up to Simla, where they established a new studio Howard & Bourne, to be joined in 1864 by Charles Shepherd, to form Howard, Bourne & Shepherd. By 1866, after the departure of Howard, it became Bourne & Shepherd, the name under which the firm continues to operate to this day. Although Bourne only spent 6 years in India, his time there was extremely productive. He undertook three major expeditions in the Himalayas, creating an impressive body of work which combined the highest technical quality and a keen artistic eye, while working under difficult physical conditions. Bourne left India for good in 1870, selling his interest in Bourne & Shepherd shortly thereafter and abandoning commercial photography.
The Qutb Minar in Delhi, India, is the world's tallest brick and stone minaret, standing 72.5 meters high. The structure is one of the earliest examples of Indo-Islamic architecture and was commissioned by India's first Muslim ruler, Qutb-ud-din Aibak, marking the beginning of Muslim rule which would end only with the arrival of the British in the 19th century. Ancient Hindu temples located on the site were torn down and the debris was used in the construction.
The archaeological site known as Ellora is located approximately 19 miles from the city of Aurangabad in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Known for its monumental caves, Ellora is an outstanding example of Indian rock-cut architecture. The 34 "caves" - structures excavated out of the vertical face of the Charanandri hills - are Buddhist, Hindu and Jain rock-cut temples and monasteries, dating from between the 5th century and 10th century.
Bibi Ka Maqbara, which translates as "Tomb of the Lady," is a mausoleum near Aurangabad. Modeled after the Taj Mahal, the Bibi Ka Maqbara was built between 1651 and 1661 by Prince Azam Khan Shah, son of the Mugal Emperor Aurangzeb, in honor his mother Rabia Durani, also known as Dilras Banu Begum.
Local Numbers:
FSA A2001.05
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
59 Items (items (5 linear ft.), 20 x 24 or smaller)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Photographs
Typescripts
Papers
Place:
Ajanta Caves (India)
Ellora Caves (India)
Khajuraho (India)
Fatehpur Sikri (India)
Lal Qila (Delhi, India)
Date:
1947-1994
Scope and Contents:
Papers, 1947-1994, of photographer and author Volkmar Kurt Wentzel, regarding a two year survey conducted for the National Geographic Society during 1946-1947, to visually document caves, temples, and sculpture of India, including: his typescript draft (photocopy), [after 1946], written for the National Geographic Magazine on the Ajanta and Ellora temples; a proof, 1953, of his article entitled "India's Sculptured Temple Caves"; a lecture typescript entitle "A Walter Mitty Fantasy," presented to the Literary Society, 1994, along with a brochure and checklist for his related exhibition of photographs of Indian rock-cut temples and sculptures held at the Cosmos Club, Washington, D.C.; and 54 photographs, silver prints and five cibachromes, 1947, many signed by the photographer, dated, and captioned. Photographs depict the temples, sculpture, and frescoes of Ellora, Ajanta, Khajuraho, Halebid, Fatehpur Sikri, and Red Fort ,Delhi.
Arrangement:
Records; Organized in four boxes ; Arranged by form of material: Boxes 1-3: Photographs. Box 4: Typescript, Brochure, Printed Material, Photographs.
Biographical / Historical:
Volkmar Kurt Wentzel (1915-2006) was an accomplished photographer, particularly in the 1940's. Born in Dresden, Germany, he emigrated to the United States at around the age of 20 and immediately began work as a photojournalist at Underwood and Underwood. He served as an aerial photographer and photo-intelligence officer during World War II. After the war he spent extensive time photographing Ladakh (western Tibet), Nepal, and India. He photographed widely in the United States, Europe, and Africa as well. He wrote and documented photographically cave temples in India as a correspondent for the National Geographic Society between 1946-1946. He received many accolades for his photography and has exhibited his work both in the United States and abroad.
Ellora Caves, sculptures and architecture : collected papers of the University Grants Commission's National Seminar / editors, Ratan Parimoo, Deepak Kannal, Shivaji Panikkar
Photographs in albums made by Frank Frick documenting architecture, people, agriculture, and scenery in India. Photographs are annotated with descriptions and dates that apparently relate to Frickʹs visits. Some photographs were made by Raja Deen Dayal (also known as Lala Deen Dayal) and Samuel Bourne. The collection also includes one loose photograph of the Budapest Opera House, published by Stengel & Markert in Dresden and possibly photographed by the Calderoni Es Tarsa studio.
Biographical/Historical note:
The collector has not been identified wth certainty, but was probably Frank Frick (1828-1910), a merchant from Baltimore, Maryland. Frick was a patron of the arts who, during the last years of his life, traveled in Asia, Africa, and Europe.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 82-44
General note:
Information on photographers taken from Clark Worswick, a curator and historian of photography.
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Additional photographs by Raja Deen Dayal can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in Photo Lot 97.
Addititional photographs of India by Samuel Bourne can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in Photo Lot 97 and Photo Lot 161.
Additional photographs of India by Bourne can be found in the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives in A2006.02, 1998.07, A2001.5, A1999.8, and A2002.09.
Records of Frank Frick's patronage of the arts in Baltimore can be found in the Archives of American Art in the Peabody Gallery of Art records.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Photograph albums
Citation:
Photo lot 82-44, Frank Frick photograph collection relating to India, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Report on the Elura cave temples and the Brahmanical and Jaina caves in western India : completing the results of the fifth, sixth, and seventh seasons' operations of the Archaeological Survey, 1877-78, 1878-79, 1879-80 / by Jas. Burgess
