A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c3: Preface
A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c3
- Language
- English
Preface
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The purpose of this book is to give for the first time a chronological, descriptive History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon from the third century b. c. to the present day, with criticism of the aesthetic merits of the works described. The art history is treated throughout in close connexion with political and religious revolutions. In criticism the judgements of experts have been utilized as far as possible. Necessary limitations of space forbid elaborate explanations of the mythological or historical significance of individual works.
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Ceylon is included because the art of the island is almost wholly Indian, and some readers may find the sections dealing with the artistic productions of Ceylon among the most novel and interesting portions of the work. A summary notice of the remarkable mediaeval development of purely Indian art in remote Java appears to be essential to a right presentation of the story, and a similarly slight account of recent discoveries in Chinese Turkistan is equally indispensable. But neither of those two large subjects can be treated in detail. No attempt is made to pursue the ramifications of Indian art in Burma and the Far East, where it is profoundly modified by Chinese ideas. Materials have been collected for a supplementary chapter on European Art and Artists in India, but want of space compels me to omit that subject. The book, as it stands, is much more bulky than it was originally intended to be, and I confess that the amount of matter available has surprised me. The objects noticed have been carefully selected to the best of my taste and ability, but I cannot expect everybody to agree with my choice. The completion of a comprehensive review of the whole field of Indian Art has necessarily involved the revision of opinions expressed in earlier publications and based on more imperfect knowledge.
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The rough distinction drawn between Fine Art and the Industrial Arts, and the question of the existence of Fine Art in India, which some critics deny, are discussed in the Introduction. The main topics dealt with in this volume are Sculpture and Painting. Architecture is a subject too big for full treatment in a general history of Fine Art. Students who wish to pursue the investigation of Indian Architecture must still read special treatises, especially Fergusson's classical work in the new edition. In Chapters II and XII merely outline sketches of the leading Hindu and Muhammadan styles respectively are offered. Chapters III–VII give a continuous and tolerably full history of Hindu sculpture—the term Hindu including Jain and Buddhist. Muhammadan sculpture, chiefly decorative, is discussed in Chapter XIII. Chapters VIII, IX, and XIV, if read together, present a history of Indian Painting in considerable detail. A selection of specially artistic Hindu minor works, which cannot be ranged under the heads of Sculpture or Painting, is described in Chapter X. I have found it convenient to treat Foreign Influences on Hindu Art separately in Chapter XI.
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The illustrations, mostly from photographs, include a large number never before published, many which have appeared only in publications of very limited circulation, and some which are necessarily hackneyed. Bibliographical Notes are inserted as required, and a comprehensive Index has been prepared. It has not appeared desirable to cumber the text with diacritical marks, but long vowels are marked where necessary as a guide to pronunciation. Consonants may be pronounced as in English. Short *a* with stress is pronounced like *u* in *but*, e. g. *Chandra* is pronounced *Chundră*; the short *a* without stress being an indistinct vowel like the *A* in *America*. Other vowels are to be pronounced as in Italian; e. g. *Mīr* is pronounced *Meer*, and *Yūsuf* is pronounced *Yoosuf*. *E* and *o* are long, whether marked or not. *Au* is pronounced *ow*, as in *Kanauj* = *Kănowj*.
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My obligations for help of many kinds are numerous.
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For liberty to reproduce official photographs, drawings, and illustrations I have to thank the Secretary of State for India, the Governments of Madras and Ceylon, and the Controller of H.M. Stationery Office. My special gratitude is due to the Government of Ceylon for the gift of a valuable set of archaeological publications and an abundant supply of photographs selected by Mr. H. C. P. Bell, Archaeological Commissioner, who has taken much trouble in the matter. The Government of Madras has placed original drawings and photographs at my disposal through Mr. A. Rea, Superintendent of Archaeology. Dr. A. Willey, F.R.S., late Director of the Colombo Museum, and Mr. Joseph, Acting Director, have kindly supplied material under their control, and I am similarly indebted to the Superintendent of the Central Museum, Madras, and to the Principal of the Madras School of Art. The Councils of the Royal Asiatic Society, of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, and of the Royal Institute of British Architects, the Syndics of the Cambridge University Press, the Delegates of the Clarendon Press, Messrs. Griggs and Son, Sir Richard Temple, and Dr. Stein, C.I.E., have been good enough to permit the reproduction of copyright photographs or illustrations.
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Acknowledgements for similar help are owed to Mr. Henry Balfour, Curator of the Pitt-Rivers Museum; Mr. A. Beardsell of Madras; Dr. A. K. Coomaraswamy; the Collector of Trichinopoly; Prof. Grünwedel; Mr. R. Narasimhachar, Director of the Archaeological Survey, Mysore; and Mr. Whitworth Wallis, Curator of the Museum and Art Gallery, Birmingham. Prof. A. A. Macdonell has given me the free use of his large collection of photographs.
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H.H. the Mahārāja of Benares has kindly supplied, through the Commissioner of Benares, a set of photographs of selected pictures in his illustrated MS. of the poem of Tulsī Dās. Mr. E. J. Marshall, Director-General of Archaeology in India, Dr. Vogel, Acting-Director, and Mr. D. R. Bhandarkar of the Archaeological Department have taken much trouble to procure photographs for me. Mr. G. A. Wathen, Curator of the Lahore Museum, was kind enough to select and supply a representative set of photographs of Kāngra pictures.
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M. A. Foucher performed a similar service in selecting specimens of Nepalese and Tibetan pictures in the library of the Institut de France, and has given valuable personal aid. Sir George Watt, K.C.I.E., C.S.I., has generously lent negatives of illustrations in *Indian Art at Delhi*. Col. Hanna, Col. Hendley, C.I.E., Dr. C. H. Read, and Mrs. Jopling Rowe have permitted me to inspect their collections of Indo-Persian paintings, and Col. Hendley has lent some specimens for reproduction. Mrs. Herringham has communicated information about the Ajaṇṭā paintings. At the British Museum I received all possible assistance from Prof. Barnett, Dr. C. H. Read, and Messrs. John Allan, Lawrence Binyon, O. Dalton, and Reginald Smith. At the India Office similar liberal help was given by Messrs. F. W. Thomas, A. G. Ellis, and W. Foster. The resources of the Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington, were placed at my disposal by the Board of Education and Messrs. Stanley Clarke, Edward Strange, and G. H. Palmer. I am indebted for friendly criticism to Mr. W. Crooke, Prof. Percy Gardner, and Dr. Stein, C.I.E., and for references to Dr. Grierson, C.I.E., Messrs. W. Crooke, E. B. Havell, and W. Irvine, and to Don Zilva Wickremasinghe.
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If any acknowledgement due has been overlooked, I trust that the omission will be ascribed to inadvertence and not to ingratitude. It has not been possible always to use the permission granted to reproduce illustrations.