Thomas Daniell, accompanied by his nephew William Daniell (1769-1837), set off for India in 1785. The two traveled extensively throughout northern and southern India until 1794. This drawing is preparatory for the aquatint engraving by Thomas Daniell that appeared in the first of his six volumes devoted to "Oriental Scenery," which he began publishing upon his return to London (plate 15). The inaugural volume was issued in March 1796. The Morgan also preserves the Daniells' large drawings for The Sacred Tree of the Hindoos at Gyah, Bahar, March 1790 (1974.73), and The Great Pagoda, Trichinopoly, 1792 (1986.28) as well as a copy of "Oriental Scenery".
The Akshaya Vata or Undying Banyan tree, is an evergreen tree with aerial roots considered sacred in many Asian cultures.Villages throughout India have a sacred tree, where a shrine is established to honor the presiding deity. In this sheet Daniell illustrates a small shrine with stone slabs featuring the figures of Shiva and Ganesha situated near the tree in Gaya.
Study for the aquatint in William and Thomas Daniell, "Oriental Scenery", London, 1795-1808, part I, no. 15.
Watermark: none.
Inscribed in pen and black ink below lower margin of the drawing, "The ACHE BHUR a sacred Tree of the HINDOOS at GYA, BAHAR".
Bromley-Davenport family, former owner.
Daniell, Thomas, 1749-1840. Oriental scenery.
Ryskamp, Charles, ed. Seventeenth Report to the Fellows of the Pierpont Morgan Library, 1972-1974. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1976, p. 159.
"Artist Adventurers in Eighteenth Century India - Thomas and William Daniell," Octagon, XI, 1974, no. 4, 4-7, repr.
Thomas and William Daniell, exhibition catalogue by Mildred Archer, Spink and Son, Ltd., London, 1974, no. 62, pl. 8.