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Artist/Maker
Charles T. Scowen
(British, 1852 – 1948)
Datec. 1880s
MediumAlbumen print from a collodion negative
DimensionsImage: 8 1/4 × 11 1/4 in. (21 × 28.6 cm)
Image: 8 × 11 in. (20.3 × 27.9 cm)
Credit LineGift of Thomas J. Wilson and Jill M. Garling, P2016
Object number2020.9.214
On view
DescriptionBritish photographer Charles Scowen arrived in Ceylon, modern day Sri Lanka, in 1873 and by 1876, he established his first studio, Scowen & Co. in Kandy. A second would open in Colombo by 1885. The firm soon became one of the leading commercial photographers in Sri Lanka known for producing superior quality photographs for tourism, commerce, and industry, while also capturing the beauty and culture of the island. Known for his botanical photographs, Scowen also produced architectural and landscape studies, photographs of ancient ruins, city and street views, and portraits of native people.
The view seen in this work depicts the main entrance to Dalada Maligawa or the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, one of the most sacred places of Buddhist worship in the world. Constructed during the 17th and 18th centuries, the temple holds the shrine containing the left canine tooth of Buddha, which was first brought to Sri Lanka during the reign of King Kirtisri Meghavanna (301-328).
Collections
Additional Details
Exhibition History
2024-2025
Clinton, NY. The Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art, Hamilton College. "Menagerie: Animals in Art from the Wellin Museum," September 7, 2024 –June 8, 2025 (no cat.).
Clinton, NY. The Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art, Hamilton College. "Menagerie: Animals in Art from the Wellin Museum," September 7, 2024 –June 8, 2025 (no cat.).
Provenance
2020: Hamilton College (Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art), by gift of Thomas J. Wilson and Jill M. Garling.
Markings
Embossed: "illeg. Co. Ltd. / Photographers / Colombo, Ceylon" on recto at lower left.
Watermark: "Entrance to the Buddhist Temple, Kandy. / Scowen & Co. Ceylon"
Watermark: "Entrance to the Buddhist Temple, Kandy. / Scowen & Co. Ceylon"
Signature
Not signed.
Inscribed
"CEY - 044" on verso at lower left in pencil.
Date: unknown
Medium: Ceramic with glaze
Object number: 1991.232
Unknown artist, Japanese
Date: c. 1877
Medium: Album with lacquered board cover containing fifty albumen photographs with hand coloring
Object number: 1992.27
Unknown artist, Chinese
Date: c. 618-907 CE
Medium: Red clay with remnants of pigment
Object number: 1994.58
Dmitri Baltermants
Date: 1941-45 (printed 2003)
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Object number: 2013.5.10
Manuel Álvarez Bravo
Date: 1976 (printed c. 1977, published 1979)
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Object number: 1980.2.1
William E. Williams
Date: 2003–4 (printed 2007)
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Object number: 2008.5.3
William Henry Jackson
Date: published 1899
Medium: Photochrome
Object number: 2006.3
Eugène Atget
Date: c. 1910, printed later
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Object number: 1982.11
Leonard Freed
Date: 1979
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Object number: 2014.7.9