WD3000

Distant view of Government House, Buitenzorg (Bogor), Java. 1816.

By Mary Fendall (1794-1886).

Inscribed on reverse in pencil: ‘A distant view of the Government House Buitenzorg Gunung Gédé and the River Chidami’.

Pencil; 28.8 by 39.8 cm.

Note: This fine pencil drawing, like the following, depicts Government House, Buitenzorg, viewed from a considerable distance across the Tjisadane, with Gunung Gede in the background. The view closely corresponds to the anonymous uncoloured aquatint entitled 'A distant view of Buitenzorg the residence of the Governor of Java, Gunong Gidi & the River Chidani', facing page 107 of Lady Raffles's ‘Memoir of ... Rqffles’ (London, 1830). In the latter the vegetation is more clearly delineated and has been given a more exotic appearance by the inclusion of palm trees and bamboos, whereas in Mary Fendall's drawing, apart from a cluster of trees in the right-hand foreground, the vegetation is largely undefined. Moreover her drawing depicts the Tjisadane during the dry season whereas it is represented in the aquatint as a wide flowing stream with a number of people fording it. Despite these differences of detail it is evident that Mary Fendall's drawing served as the model for the aquatint by William Daniell.