Surgeon Captain W.E.A. Armstrong (fl.1895-1946) was Assistant British Resident in Kathmandu, and in June 1899 he submitted an official report on the ‘Moral and Material Progress of Nepal’ to the Secretary of the Foreign Department, Government of India (report housed in the National Archives of India, New Delhi). Nothing further is known about him, but in 1946, as Lieutenant Colonel Armstrong, he donated nine paintings to the V&A. They are signed E. Armstrong or E.W.A. (rather than W.E.A.) but the artist and the donor seem to have been the same person since the Keeper of the Indian Section noted at the time: ‘We should take some of his very able water-colours and I selected nine’. The pictures all depict places in the Kathmandu valley and are dated between 1895 and 1901. Since some of them were exhibited at an ‘Institute’ in London during 1900 and 1901, it is possible that they were worked up specially from earlier sketches made on the spot; this seems to be confirmed by the inscription on one of them, in which [18]97-98 has been replaced by 1895, suggesting that the artist dated the picture retrospectively. The painting shown here depicts a view of the main street in Patan, Nepal, with a palace on the right, a temple on the left, and a small vegetable market in the foreground.
Physical description
View of the main street with a palace on the right, a temple on the left, a small vegetable market in the foreground
Marks and inscriptions
E. Armstrong Patan. Nepal | Main Street. Patan Nepal.
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
p. 345, pl. 1946
Rohatgi P. and Parlett G., assisted by Imray S. and Godrej P. Indian Life and Landscape by Western Artists: Paintings and Drawings from the Victoria and Albert Museum, 17th to the early 20th century. Published by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, Mumbai, in association with V&A, London, 2008. ISBN 81-901020-9-5.
Details
- Title : Painting Patan
- Year : ca. 1895-1901 (made)
- Artist : Armstrong, W. E. A. Surgeon Captain (artist)
- Classification : Paintings & Manuscripts
- Medium : Pencil, blue crayon and watercolour
- Dimension : Width: 33.4 cm, Height: 36.7 cm
- Accession No : IS.14-1946
- Country/ Geo-location : Nepal Patan (made)
- Collection : Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A)
- Credit Line : Given by Lieutenant Colonel W. E. A. Armstrong
- Status : In Storage