Osian's Auction Catalogue Creative India Series 1 Bengal | December 2011

W illiam s impson 28 October 1823 – 17 August 1899 the Cow’s Mouth Watercolour & pencil heightened with touches of bodycolour on paper, 1861 & 1894 S/d with inscription ‘The Cow’s Mouth. / May 1861 / Wm. Simpson / July 7th 1894’ l.l. 10.0 x 14.3 in (25.5 x 36.3 cm) Provenance Private Collector, Mumbai. Acquired from Christie’s (London) in 2006. ` 350,000 – 525,000 US$ 7,000 – 10,500 Antiquity / A.S.I. Registered Non-Exportable Item 10 1780 1790 1800 1810 1820 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2011 Creative India BENGaL | The Artists and Printmakers of the ‘Picturesque’ “My plan was to visit the sources of the Ganges and Jumna, then go over the high passes into Tibet, and come back by Kashmir…At last we started on 19th April (1861). Our course was up the Ganges to its source at the Cow’s Mouth…This sacred river is supposed to have four sources - The Bhagiratha, the Aluknanda, the Jhanuvie and the Bishengunga. All these sources are celebrated sources of pilgrimage. Our objective was the Bhagiratha, which is generally considered, at least by the Europeans, as the source of the Ganga... At Gangootrie there is a small hill temple, and some Brahmins attend it in the summer months. The spot is covered with snow in winter, and no pilgrims come at that season. This temple is about twenty miles below the glacier and there is no road or trail beyond it. We stayed a day at the temple and then started for the actual source, and encamped for the night some miles below it. Next morning we went up to the glacier, taking provisions with us to breakfast there.The water flows out, a very small stream of muddy stuff. As a bath at this sacred site is supposed to wash away all previous sin, according to Hindu notions, I had my morning dip a little below the glacier, and I drank a little of the water, to complete the pujah, or rite. When, I chatted afterwards with the Brahmins, I at times told them this, and they said “Sahib, these are great words.” I spent the early part of the day sketching...While I was sketching, a figure appeared on the right side of the stream, at a considerable height above the snow... Although I could not explain this apparition at the time, I attached but little importance to it until I learned afterwards that Hindus occasionally go up to this sacred spot to seek death there among the snows. According to one story of the origin of the Ganges, the river falls upon Siva’s head. According to another, which I have seen in pictures, the water flows from a mouth of a cow’s or bull’s head, represented under the seat or throne upon which Siva sits. Thus the spot is supposed to be hallowed by the divine presence, and death there means bliss, or absorption back into the deity... Had I understood the case the time, I should have made an attempt to save the man; at least the effort would have been worth making. Probably I should have boldly told him I am Siva, and ordered him to return instantly to his home.” [Simpson, William [1903]. The Autobiography of William Simpson, R.I. (Crimean Simpson). London: T. Fisher Unwin; pp.142-44.] “On 19 April (1861) he set off up the valley of the Ganges to its source at the Cow’s Mouth. The trek was far more arduous than that of the previous year. Simpsonmet upwith two army officers and along with them, their servants and guides, he set off by the Hill road for the hot springs and snowy peaks of Jumnotri and Gangotri. Simpson sketched the small temple at Gangotri (Fig. 89), some twenty miles from the edge of the glacier from which the Ganges issues. This was reached the next day, Simpson noting that it was ‘a very small stream of muddy stuff’. He nevertheless observed the Hindu rite of purification: ‘I had my morning dip below the glacier, and I drank a little of water.’ [Archer, Mildred [1986]. Visions of India: The Sketchbooks of William Simpson 1859 - 1862. Oxford: Phaidon; p.109.] 29 28