Constance Frederica Gordon-Cumming Bit of the snowy range from Yakko, Simla

Badulla from Allugollehella, alias Castle Cumming Signed, inscribed and dated l.r.: Badulla from Allugollehella/alias Castle Cumming/Namamakuli Kanda Range/CFGC-/Aug. 25th 73 and signed by James Whittaker Gibson, watercolour over pencil ‘Badulla, the capital of Uva, a very pretty little town in the midst of a grassy and well-wooded and well-watered plain, about 2,200 feet above the sea-level, and surrounded on every side by fine hills of very varied form. There is a considerable amount of rice culture round the town, which seems like an island crested with cocoa-palms rising from a sea of velvety green’, Two Happy Years, p. 335. Badulla is in southern central Sri Lanka.

Signed, inscribed and dated l.r.: Cave on the Island/of Elephanta/Dec 9th. 69 and further signed by another, watercolour over pencil. The artist visited the famous Hindu temple carved into the rockface on the island of Elephanta. Constructed between the fifth and sixth century, the temple is part of the ‘City of Caves’ devoted to the cult of Shiva. For further work by this artist please see the catalogue link and enquire about availability.

Dunbar looking to Elbedde-Kandy Inscribed l.r.: Dunbar looking to/Elbedde-Kandy. Between Dimbola &/Dickoya-6631 ft, and signed by J.T. Beckett, Mr Naylor …, C. Swinburnton and one other, watercolour over pencil 27 x 43 cm.; 10 5/8 x 16 7/8 inches Signs of deforestation, of which the artist was critical, are clearly evident in this watercolour. Dunbar is 60 miles east of Colombo.

Raldung from Chigaom over Jula Inscribed l.l.: Raldung from Chigaom over Jula., watercolour over pencil 17.3 x 29.5 cm.; 6 ¾ x 11 5/8 inches A ‘Jula’ (a rope-bridge) runs over the Sutlej river by Chagaon in Himachal Pradesh. The artist recorded an encounter where ‘we found a most horribly unsafe jula- four ropes, quite decayed, stretching from rock to rock, while far below raged the turbid river, swollen by the mass of melted snow,’ which she was eventually forced to cross, In the Himalayas, p, 446.

Vaulted Hall under the Terrace, Heidelberg, Germany Inscribed and dated l.l.: Vaulted Hall under the Terrace. Heidelberg/Sep 21st/1865, watercolour over pencil with bodycolour on blue paper 17.2 x 25.5 cm.; 6 ¾ x 10 inches Heidelberg Castle is one of the most important Renaissance buildings in Northern Europe. The residence of the Counts Palatine of the Rhine dates back to 1225 and was largely rebuilt in the sixteenth century. It was badly damaged by the French army in the course of the War of the Grand Alliance, or the Nine Year’s War (1688 - 1697), and was finally ruined by two devastating lightening strikes in 1764.

Bridge of Boats and Old Fort, Benares Inscribed and dated l.l.: Bridge of boats and/old Fort-/Benares-/Nov. 20th, watercolour and pencil 17 x 35 cm.; 6 ¾ x 13 ¾ inches In this work, drawn on the spot at Benares, now Varanasi, the Hindu holy city on the banks of the Ganges, a colossal sculpture can be seen on the steps of an old fort. Across the river boats have been lined up and firmly anchored, so that planks can be laid across them to provide passageway for people, carts and carriages, In the Himalayas, p108.

Tangalla (Tangalle) Signed, inscribed and dated l.r.: Tangalla/C.F. Gordon Cummming./Nov. 22nd 1873, and signed by J.H. Campbell, Isabell Lloyd Hill and H. Lloyd Hill, watercolour over pencil 25 x 75 cm.; 9 ¾ x 29 ½ inches The artist and her party visited the District Judge at Tangalle, ‘a hospitable Scotsman’ who lived in an old bungalow by the sea. Tangalle was ‘a pretty little seaside town’ about twenty miles away east of Matara, on Sri Lanka’s south coast, where the artist was staying. She writes about ‘the charms of that shore, with the quaintly-built canoes, with great outriggers and nets hung up to dry, and the picturesque groups of brown figures…’ Two Happy Years, p. 454.

Sunset with the Allegalla and Kaduganawa Peaks from Bellongalla, Bellgodde, Kornegalle Hills Inscribed l.r.: Allegalla and Kaduganawa Peaks from Bellongalla./Bellgodde. Kornegalle Hills, and further inscribed: coffee and with colour notes, watercolour over pencil 35.5 x 50.5 cm.; 14 x 19 ¾ inches The artist stayed with Bessie Farr, whom she met on her journey to Ceylon, who was travelling to her future husband Tom Farr. They lived at Oolanakanda, ‘perched very high on the majestic Allegalla Peak, at the foot of a mighty crag, and overlooking a billowy sea of mountain ranges. …from there we could see in the far distance the other great mountain of Ceylon… “Adam’s Peak”, but to the Singhalese ..the “Sri-Pada’, Memories, pp. 211-212. Bellongalla is west of Kandy, the site of Sri Lanka’s first tea estate.

Kandy Railway passing Kaduganawa Signed, inscribed and date l.r.: Kandy Railway passing Kaduganawa/Allegalla Peak-/Turret Rock in the distance./looking S.W./July 26.73/CFG.C. and also signed by Bessie Farr, Thomas Farr and H. Williamson, watercolour over pencil 35.5 x 50.5 cm.; 14 x 19 ¾ inches The artist met Bessie Farr on the voyage out to Ceylon and spent time with her and her husband Tom at their home at Oolanakanda. She wrote that ‘perched at the base of the mighty crag which crowns Allagalla Peak, that home was in a sheltered nook embosomed in fruit-trees, and overlooking such a magnificent view as we may sometimes obtain for a few moments by climbing some mighty Alp, but which few homes can claim as their perpetual outlook’, Two Happy Years, p. 159. The view of the train from their house ‘labouring on its tortuous up-hill course, winding round the steep hillside. It was so far below us that it seemed like a fairy’s toy’. Alagalla Peak is the highest point of the Alagalla Mountain Range, standing at almost 4,000 feet, on the rail route from Colombo to Kandy, in southern Sri Lanka. Eka Gordon-Cumming took this single broad-gauge line train line in the spring of 1874, noting that the uniform gradient while rounding the flank of Alagalla was one in forty five. She spent some time in the area before moving on to Kandy, enjoying ‘happy days and weeks spent exploring many a lovely corner in that vast panorama’.

The Mahavelli Ganga (the Mahaweli River) Signed, inscribed and dated l.l.: The Mahavelli Ganga/Gampola Hill/C.FGC./May 29th 74 and signed by John A Bell and Mary Bell, watercolour over pencil 27 x 45 cm.; 10 ½ x 17 5/8 inches The Mahaweli is Sri Lanka’s longest river. Gampola was Sri Lanka’s capital from 1347 to around 1410. Gampola is about 50 miles west of Colombo.