During their first tour which took them along the Ganges, the Daniells sailed past Benares and made numerous sketches and drawings from the river which were later used as the basis for fully worked up oils. On 4 December 1788, William recorded in his diary 'The general view of Benares from the Pinnacle was so very grand that I stayed on Board the whole day to draw it, fearing if we let slip the present opportunity that we might never see it in a better point of View' (M. Hardie and M. Clayton, Walker's Quarterly, 1932). The Daniells returned to Benares for a longer stay on their return voyage a year later (November-December).

Benares (now known as Varanasi) continues to be the religious capital of India and one of the most important places of pilgrimage and of ritual bathing. The Panchganga Ghat, as its name indicates, is where five rivers are supposed to meet. The Daniells depicted the Ghats in their Oriental Scenery and the accompanying text describes them as 'the most considerable of any of the Ganges.....vast multitudes of devotees..... to this city perform penance, and transact mercantile affairs. An opinion prevails amongst them that drawing the last breath at Coss (Benares) is a circumstance much in favour of their enjoyment of future happiness' (T. & W. Daniell, Oriental Scenery, 1795-1808).

The pair visited China twice: on their way to India in 1785, and on their return to England from India in 1793. The first leg of their passage to Calcutta in 1785 was made on the Indiaman Atlas, which left them at Whampoa in August 1785. They remained in China, visiting Macao and Canton, before taking a coasting vessel to Calcutta in the spring of 1786. They returned to China after their famous tour in India, visiting Canton from September 1793 until March 1994.

From 1813 to 1823, Daniell travelled around the UK and documented some of the finest views as preparation for Richard Ayton's book, A Voyage round Great Britain, which was published in eight volumes over the period of 1814 to 1825. His plan was to journey around the whole coast and record views of places of interest, describing the scenery and the conditions of the people. The journey was completed in six separate trips, commencing from Land's End in Cornwall. On his returns to London, he would translate his elaborate sketches and notes on colour and texture into aquatints that were highly praised for their artistic quality. At the same time Daniell worked on other projects, which included a large number of Scottish paintings for the Academy Exhibitions such as, most likely, the present picture.

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Auction Details

Wednesday 16 November | 10.30am GMT
Donnington Priory, Newbury, Berkshire RG14 2JE

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