Plate Description:
No. VI. NEAR ATTOR, IN THE DINDIGUL DISTRICT.
Attoor is the village in the small district of Dindigul, situated to the south of the kingdom of Mysore. This part of the country, though not entirely uncultivated, has a wild and most romantic character; broken into hill and valley, and covered in many parts with thick woods of great extent, giving shelter to herd of elephants, and numerous other wild animals, that would oftimes quit their gloomy retreats, and carry havoc and destruction among the plantations of the peasantry, were they not strictly watched by a class of human creatures, whose shaggy forms and ferocious aspect appear sufficient to strike terror into the hearts of even lions and tigers.
Thomas Daniell and his nephew William Daniell were the leading painters and engravers of Indian architecture and landscapes in the 18th-19th centuries. They were the first English artists to produce topographical views of India in their “Views in Calcutta” in 1788. Their best-known work is the monumental series “Oriental Scenery,” comprising 144 large hand-colored aquatint engravings in six volumes, which was published in London over between 1795-1808. William Daniell published a second edition of “Oriental Scenery” in 1812-1816, called the Quarto Edition, which featured smaller uncolored aquatint engravings, including this example.
See also M.2010.158a-b, M.2013.137.1a-b, M.2013.137.2a-b, and M.2013.137.4.
