Constance Frederica Gordon-Cumming Isle of Sumbawa, Malay Archipelago

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’.

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.

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.

Watercolour over pencil 36.5 x 57.5 cm.; 14 ½ x 22 ¾ inches This is a study for a larger watercolour of this subject, which formed part of this collection and is now in the British Library. Adam’s Peak is about 85 miles east of Colombo.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.