|
Date: |
|
Description: | Drawing in pen-and-ink and watercolour made by Colesworthy Grant in 1855, depicting a small stupa at Mingun in Sagaing Division, Burma (Myanmar). The drawing is from an album of 106 landscapes and portraits of Burmese and Europeans documenting the British embassy to the Burmese King, Mindon Min (reigned 1853-1878), titled "A Series of Views in Burmah taken during Major Phayre’s Mission to the Court of Ava in 1855". The mission started from Rangoon (Yangon) and travelled up the Irrawaddy (Ayeyarwady) River to the royal capital of Amarapura in central Burma, founded by King Bodawpaya (ruled 1782-1819) in 1782 on the east bank of the river. Mingun, a short distance north of Amarapura on the opposite bank of the Irrawaddy, is best known for its immense and incomplete pagoda begun by Bodawpaya. He intended it to be the tallest Buddhist monument in the world, rising to a height of 150 m, but died in 1819 before it could be finished. It is purportedly the largest mass of brickwork in the world but was badly damaged in an earthquake in 1838. This sketch by Grant shows a view of a diminutive version of the massive pagoda, and was described by the artist as follows: “This model stands at a short distance from the monster pile itself. It is built of brick and mortar, and is about fourteen feet in height. Judging by the construction of the doorways, which differ materially in formation and proportion from those in the actual building, it is most probable that this miniature edifice has been intended merely for general reference, as to proportions, and not as a very strict guide or model for its details or embellishment.” The mission to Amarapura took place after the Second Anglo-Burmese War in 1852 and the annexation by the British of the Burmese province of Pegu (Bago). It was despatched by the Governor-General of India, Lord Dalhousie, on the instructions of the East India Company, with the aim of persuading King Mindon to sign a treaty formally acknowledging the extension of British rule over the province. It was headed by Arthur Phayre (Commissioner of Pegu and later first Chief Commissioner of British Burma), with Henry Yule (Under-Secretary of the Public Works Department) as Secretary. In addition to diplomatic duties, the mission attempted to obtain accurate information about the country, culture and people of a land little-known to Europeans, and to this end Grant was sent as official artist and Linnaeus Tripe as photographer. Grant (1813-1880) had come to India in 1832 where he lived in Calcutta and worked as a professional artist and freelance journalist, travelling to Rangoon in 1846. In recognition of the skill shown in his drawings, the Burmese King presented him with a gold cup and ruby ring. Together with a privately-printed book of notes, the drawings give a vivid account of the journey, and a number were used for illustrations to Yule’s ‘A Narrative of the mission sent by the Governor General of India to the Court of Ava in 1855’ published in 1858. | License: | http://www.bl.uk/services/copy/permission.html | Rights holder: | British Library | Source: | Collect Britain | Creator: | Grant, Colesworthy (1813-1880) | Identifier: | http://www.collectbritain.co.uk/personal... | Language: | en-GB | Go to resource |
|
|