Elephanta caves

Elephanta Island has held a particular fascination for western visitors since the 16th century because of its great antiquity. This drawing of the cave interior at Elephanta is a preparatory sketch for an aquatint by the Daniells.

Thomas and his young nephew William produced a visual record of India that surpassed the work of any other artists of the period. Their series of 144 hand-coloured aquatints published between 1795 and 1808 were an instant commercial success in Britain, greatly increasing knowledge of India.

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The Daniells arrived in Calcutta in 1786 and set up a printing studio. Their first set of prints depicted the city and the profits from these financed their travels across India. Aware of the success of artist, William Hodges, they followed in his footsteps, travelling through much of north India and then up to the Himalayas. Three years later in 1791, they returned to Calcutta with 150 completed oil paintings. In 1792, a further eight month tour of South India resulted in some of their finest works.

The Daniells usually worked together, with William drawing the outlines with the aid of a camera obsucra, an optical device used to project an image onto paper which the artist could then trace, and Thomas adding the tonal washes and finishing touches.