Constance Frederica Gordon-Cumming Bridge of Boats and Old Fort, Benares

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.

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.

Selsdon Park, near Croydon Signed, inscribed and dated l.r.: Selsdon Park/C.F.G.C./1864, watercolour over pencil 35.1 x 50.5 cm.; 13 ¾ x 19 ¾ inches The house was owned by the Smith banking family from 1809 - 1877. George Smith (1765-1836) and his wife Frances, née Moseley, had fifteen children. Frances (1832 - 1922), the daughter of their second son, Oswald, married Claude, 13th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne (1824 - 1904) in 1853; they were the paternal grand parents of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. The artist may have been introduced to Selsdon Park through this Scottish connection. Selsdon Park still stands, although it was significantly altered around 100 years ago, when it was converted into an hotel.

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.

Signed, inscribed and dated l.r.: Ruins of the Temple at the furthest/point of Dondra Head. Southernmost point/of Ceylon. CFGC./Nov 7th/1873, and signed by Isabel Lloyd Hill, H Lloyd Hill, Edward Elliott, Mary Emily Elliott, and various others, numbered l.l.: 138A. watercolour and pencil 35.5 x 50.5 cm.; 14 x 19 ¾ inches This was one of many beautiful sunsets witnessed by the artist in Ceylon. Dondra is on Sri Lanka’s south coast, east of Matara.

Isle of Sumbawa, Malay Archipelago Signed, inscribed and dated l.l.: Isle of Sumbawa./Malay Archipelago. (& Vlack?)/May 7th. 1875/C.F.G.C., watercolour over pencil 12.4 x 56.5 cm.; 4 7/8 x 22 ¼ inches Sumbawa is one of the lesser Sunda Islands chain, an archipelago within the Indonesian archipelago, which stretches east of Java and north of Australia. The islands of Lombok and Flores are to the west and east respectively.

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’.

Hindoo Temple, Jubblepore (Jabalpur) Inscribed and dated l.l.: Hindoo Temple/built before the Christian Era/at the Marble Rocks/Jubblepore-/Nov. 30th/69, pencil with watercolour 17 x 35 cm.; 6 ¾ x 13 ¾ inches This temple in Behdaghat, Jabalpur, is a Chausath Yogini Temple, dedicated to the worship of yoginis, specifically honouring female divinity. The circular wall surrounding the temple is decorated by 84 niches in which sculpted yoginis are visible. The artist encountered this impressive site en route to see the famous ‘Marble Rocks’ of the sacred Nerbudda river, In the Himalayas, p 596.

Kurunégala from the top of the Rock Signed, inscribed and dated l.r.: Kurunégala from the top of the Rock/C.F Gordon Cumming./April 18th 1874/Nalunde Hills/Rock Temple/Yakdessa Gala/Devil Dancers Rock/140, and signed by three others including G.J. Julungalle (?), watercolour over pencil 29 x 66.5 cm.; 11 3/8 x 26 ¼ inches Kurunegalla, 58 miles north east of Colombo, was Sri Lanka’s capital from 1293 to 1341, and the site of an extensive royal complex, which included the palace of the tooth relic. The town and lake lie at the base of a large red rock shaped like a giant beetle, three miles long. The countryside is a mixture of paddy fields and palms. Plumbago mining (an historic name for graphite) took place here.

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.