About this artwork
The little brick monuments in this picture commemorate the Hindu widows who committed ritual suicide (Suttee) on the funeral pyre of their husbands. Westerners unused to India's religions and customs, were horrified and fascinated by such practices. Photographs like this one were bought in huge numbers by tourists and colonial officials, collecting souvenirs of their time in India. They were also distributed in Britain by a London firm, which made its money by offering glimpses of a distant and seemingly exotic culture to a curious home audience.
Updated before 2020
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artist:Samuel Bourne (1834 - 1912) English
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title:Kangra - Monuments of Sutteeism
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date created:About 1864
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materials:Albumen print
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measurements:23.8 x 29.3
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object type:
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credit line:Gift of Mrs. Riddell in memory of Peter Fletcher Riddell 1985
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accession number:PGP R 870.16
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gallery:
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subject:
Samuel Bourne
Samuel Bourne
Samuel Bourne was a Nottingham bank clerk with a passion for photography. In 1862 he left England for India and remained there for seven years, travelling extensively in the western Himalayas. Bourne often required forty servants to carry his bulky and fragile equipment. Given the challenges of...