DANIELL, William (1769-1837, Engraver), SMITH, Captain Robert (1787-1873, Artist)
Panoramic Sketch of Prince of Wales Island
London: William Daniell, January 1st, 1821. Prints. (19 7/8 x 15 3/4 to 22 3/8 x 33 1/2 inches). First edition. Set of 10 aquatints with contemporary hand-colouring after drawings by Captain Smith. Engraved and coloured by Daniell. As usual, without the key map incorporating the title. Watermarked 1819 and 1820.
Daniell's rare masterpiece, "Panoramic Sketches of Prince of Wales Island," is a tour-de-force of aquatint engraving, with 10 hand-coloured prints after drawings by Captain Smith.
Rarely found in a set, as Daniell's prints have often been dispersed for framing and display, this print suite has colouring of the highest quality and beautifully captures the Malaysian state of Penang in the colonial period. The settlement of Penang off the northwest coast of Malaysia in the Strait of Malacca, was formed by the East India Company in 1786. The British flag was raised there on August 11, 1786, by Captain Francis Light of the Indian merchant service. Light had married the King of Quedah's daughter, and the island had been given as her dowry. The island is about sixteen miles long and on average eight miles wide with a spine of mountains running east-west. The climate, though tropical, is relatively cool, which is why, in 1856, it was described in a world gazetteer as being "one of the loveliest spots in the Eastern world." Daniell, nephew of the artist Thomas Daniell, R.A. (1749-1840), is best known for his views of eastern scenery. "In 1784, he accompanied his uncle to India, and there helped him with drawings and sketches. On their return in 1794 he worked upon their important publication, Oriental Scenery. Between 1795 and 1838 he exhibited as many as 168 pictures at the Royal Academy and 64 at the British Institute. His earlier exhibits were Indian views, but from 1802 to 1807 he sent many views of the north of England and of Scotland. He published A Picturesque Voyage to India, Zoography, in conjunction with William Wood, F.S.A., Animated Nature (1807), Views of London (1812), and Views of Bhootan (1813), from drawings by Samuel Davis, of the East India Company's service, who visited Bhutan in 1783. In 1814, Daniell began A Voyage round Great Britain; this was published in four volumes in 1825. He painted, together with Mr. E. T. Parris, A Panorama of Madras, and afterward, unaided, another of The City of Lucknow and the Mode of Taming Wild Elephants. He became a student of the Royal Academy in 1799, in 1807 was elected associate, and in 1822 a full member of that body." (DNB) Smith was a noted soldier-artist and during a convalescent break from his many years residence in India, served as Superintending Engineer and Executive Officer at Prince of Wales Island. "Smith completed many watercolors of the main places of interest, before leaving on furlough to England from July 1819 until October 1822. While in London, he visited William Daniell who agreed to engrave his paintings, making these 10 aquatints, which were privately published in 1821. In 1821, the year after the death of his mother, he reverted to aquatinting the Views in Prince of Wales Island. The ten plates were made after drawings by Smith. They would have special interest for William, as he was passionately fond of this part of the world. It is interesting to note that specific mention is made of the fact that the plates are colored as well as engraved by Daniell." [Sutton] This set of coloured aquatints comprises: 1. View of the Cascade (19 7/8 x 15 3/4 inches). 2. View of the Great Tree (19 7/8 x 15 3/4 inches). 3. View of Strawberry Hill (21 7/16 x 31 1/16 inches). 4. View of Suffolk House (22 3/8 x 33 1/2 inches). 5. View of Glugor House and Spice Plantations (22 3/8 x 33 1/2 inches). 6. View of the North Beach from the Council House (22 3/8 x 32 1/4 inches). 7. View from Halliburton's Hill (21 x 31 1/8 inches). 8. View from the Convalescent Bungalow (22 1/4 x 31 inches). 9. View of Mount Erskine and Pulo Tiscoose Bay (22 1/4 x 31 inches). 10. View of the Chinese Mills, Penang (21 1/8 x 30 1/2 inches).
Abbey Travel II, 525, no.4. DNB. Prideaux 333, 352. Sutton 54. Tooley 458.
Item #31249
Price: $95,000.00