The Cave at Elephanta, Bombay

Location

Country: India
City: New Delhi
Place: British High Commission

William Westall was born in Hertford; the son of a brewer and brother of Richard, RA. He enrolled at the Royal Academy schools in 1799 and was later draughtsman for a voyage to Australia and the South Seas. After being shipwrecked he travelled to Canton in China and to India, staying in Bombay for several months. He returned to England in 1805 but later set off for Madeira and Jamaica. He became a member of the Society of Painters in Water Colours (1811) and an associate of the Academy (1812). Following a mental breakdown he regularly visited the Lake District and published ‘Views of the Valley and Vale of Keswick’ (1820). His series of aquatints of the Thames, universities and public schools for Ackermann are among his most popular works.

Places

India, Elephanta Caves, Mumbai, Elephanta Island

Subjects

sculpture (as Subject), topography, cave, stone/rock, man, parasol, ruin

Materials & Techniques

paper (as artists material), watercolour (as artists materials), watercolour (as object name)

Artist

William Westall (1781 - 1850)

Title

The Cave at Elephanta, Bombay

Date

1804

Medium

Watercolour on paper

Dimensions

height: 41.00 cm, width: 53.00 cm

Acquisition

Purchased from Hugh Evelyn, February 1983

Provenance

Collection of Hugh Evelyn; from whom purchased by the Government Art Collection in February 1983

GAC number

16152