Thomas Daniell (1749-1840) and William Daniell (1769-1837) In London art circles, Hodges' visit to India was quickly recognised as successful. Within six months of his return, Thomas Daniell's application to proceed to India as an engraver was approved by the Company's Directors on 1 December 1784. Ten days later, they also granted Thomas permission to take his nephew, William Daniell, as his assistant. Thomas was son of a publican at the Swann Inn, Chertsey, near London. In 1772, while working for the coach-painter to George III, one of his flower paintings was accepted for exhibition at the Royal Academy and he began to attend the Schools. When his brother, who had succeeded their father at the Inn, died in 1779, Thomas took charge of his ten-year-old son, William. This was the beginning of William's artistic career and a unique life-long partnership. William's younger brother, Samuel Daniell (1775-1811), also became a talented artist of the Oriental scene until his early death in Ceylon. Samuel is best known for his exquisite Views in Ceylon, which William engraved and published in London in 1808. Sailing on 7 April 1785 aboard the Atlas East Indiaman bound for China, Thomas and William eventually reached Calcutta in the spring of 1786. This extended journey resulted in A Picturesque Voyage to India by the Way of China, London, 1810, containing fifty small coloured aquatints by both Thomas and William. After crossing the Bay of Bengal in a country ship from China, they halted near the mouth of the Hooghly at Kukrahati, where they found the surroundings 'embellished by nature with all the exuberance of vegetation peculiar to Bengal …' . This drawing, probably by William and one of the earliest made in India, includes one of the artists sketching in the right foreground. During their first eighteen months in Calcutta, Thomas and William explored the city during sketching expeditions. They set up a printing studio, since Thomas had been granted permission to practise as an engraver rather than a painter. On 17 July 1786, he announced in the Calcutta Chronicle: 'Mr Daniel [sic] proposes to publish twelve views of Calcutta at twelve gold mohurs the set, from complete plates and finished in watercolours.' He also invited subscribers to the project. Engraved in a combination of etching and aquatint, the entire task took them over two years to complete. While William assisted his uncle, local Indian artists helped to colour the prints. Thomas Daniells' prints of Calcutta were the first series of engraved views to be produced in India. Obviously hoping for an enthusiastic response from the local British community, he selected well-known vistas and public buildings as the subjects. These included Tank Square with the Old Court House, Writers' Buildings, the Mission Church, besides Old Fort William and Clive Street. Some new public buildings along Esplanade Row, the palatial residences along Chowringhee, and scenes from the Hooghly River also featured in the series. The only Indian building to be included was the great Temple on Chitpore Road, named after the Hindu merchant, Govindram Mitter who had built this great structure about 1730. Before Thomas completed his project, Ozias Humphry arrived back in Calcutta from Lucknow with a collection of his own landscape drawings. His experiences up-country would have interested the Daniells for their main ambition was to travel. Profits from the Calcutta prints were to finance their journeys. Having completed the series by August 1788, they then prepared for their northern tour, which was to begin by river. The contents of the Daniell’s garden house at Kidderpore were loaded onto their budgerow and baggage boat. Their luggage included most, if not all, of Hodges’ aquatints, Select Views in India, completed in London a few months earlier, for they intended to visit many of the same places as Hodges. Before leaving Calcutta, they anchored for a few days at Chandpal Ghat to finish preparations, and to allow the Hooghly’s seasonal tidal wave to pass. On 3 September, with a small team of servants aboard, including Charles and Johnny Diaz, the Daniells set sail for a tour of northern India that would be far more extensive than any made by Hodges. Throughout most of their travels in India, William kept a journal in which he recorded details of their itineraries, places visited, and the people they met. He included personal concerns about their well-being, such as the availability of food along the way. On 16 September shortly after leaving Calcutta, they dined well according to William: ‘Had the Hare dressed for dinner that Charles shot Yesterday - It turned out a very fine one indeed.’ William’s diary also contains references to their artistic activities, especially his role as his Uncle’s assistant (‘Un’ as he invariably referred to Thomas). In the evenings, William often helped in ‘washing’ or ‘dead colouring’, by adding tonal washes, or tints, to areas of the landscape dr

...continued While the Daniell’s outward journey from Calcutta had lasted only eight months, their return was to take over two years. From Garhwal they travelled back across the plains to Lucknow, where they stayed during the hot season of 1789. They then rejoined the Ganges and sailed down-river, halting frequently to make many more drawings than during the outward journey. They stopped at Chunargarh and Benares, making excursions to Jaunpur, Bijaigarh, Sasaram, Rothasgarh and Gaya. By the hot season of 1790, they were again with Samuel Davis at Bhagalpur. While staying with him for more than a year until after the rains in 1791, they worked on their drawings, ranging from slight sketches to finished watercolours. Thomas also painted in oils from the drawings of numerous places they had seen. They arrived in Calcutta in November 1791 with about 150 completed oil paintings. During the next four months, they made more drawings of Calcutta including ‘Govindram Mitter’s Temple on Chitpore Road. In order to raise funds for the next stage of their travels, they announced a Lottery of Thomas’ paintings in the Calcutta Gazette on 5 January 1792. The draw was to be held on 1 March. Meanwhile the oil paintings were put on display at the Harmonic Tavern in Lall Bazaar. Although William complained in a letter to his mother that ‘people were more ready to admire Uncle’s paintings than buy them’, still they were able to sail to Madras on 10 March shortly after the draw. After landing at Madras on 29 March 1792, the Daniells immediately prepared for their south Indian tour. With a team of servants and bearers, they set off by palanquin along the army route westward to Bangalore arriving on 2 May. They then travelled south through Mysore, exploring the hill-forts including Hosur, Ryacottai, Krishnagiri and Sankaridroog. After continuing to Trichinopoly, they reached Madura on 3 July and made drawings of the palace and nearby sites including Teppakulam Tank. The next stage of their tour took them through the waterfall districts of Kattalam and Papanasam, and onwards to the southern tip of Cape Cormorin. From there they journeyed back to Madras by the quicker coastal route to Tanjore seeing the temples at Rameswaram along the way. During the last stage of their journey they stopped and made several drawings of the Gingee hill-forts. Reaching Madras in November 1792, the Daniells stayed for about three more months before sailing to Bombay. Source : ILLWA