Toddywallah's hut in a grove of date palms near Breach Candy, Bombay, by William Carpenter, Painting, watercolour on paper, India, 1850-51

William Carpenter trained at the Royal Academy Schools.He was in India from 1850 to 1856, during which time he travelled extensively from Bombay (Mumbai) and across western India to Rajasthan, Delhi, Kashmir, Lahore and Afghanistan. His depiction of every day street scenes and groups of people is remarkably accurate and animated, his portraits vividly capturing the character of his sitters and the glowing effects of sunlight as cityscapes and architectural monuments. Brilliantly executed in a range of warm colours, his watercolours evoke a gentle romanticism.

This view was taken from Cumballa Hill overlooking Breach Candy and the Arabian Sea, and vividly shows the rural character of this coastline little more than 150 years ago. After Carpenters return to England, The Illustrated London News published some of his watercolours. In 1881, he exhibited 275 of his paintings in a one-man show in the South Kensington Museum, London. This entire collection was subsequently acquired by the V&A.

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