A State Procession in India

This painting is currently attributed to Thomas and his nephew, William, Daniell. It is possible that it draws upon several images made during the travels of the Indian continent by the Daniells, as well as the work of other artists. It was perhaps intended to be an evocation of an Indian scene rather than a record of a specific place or event and was probably the result of a private commission placed by an East India Company servant or military officer. The celebrated collector and British Museum curator, Sir Augustus Wollaston Franks KCB, gave the painting to the Museum in 1880. The Daniells were pioneering travellers in India and the East between 1785 and 1794 and made a faithful, pictorial record of the monuments they saw. Upon their return to England they used their stock of Indian sketches and watercolours to make aquatints.