Picture Details
An indigo factory in Bengal
Partner:
British LibraryImage reference:
WD1017Origin:
Bengal, IndiaArtist / Date:
William Simpson, 1863Description:
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William Simpson (1823-1899) painted this watercolour when he visited India to do a series of sketches on the lines of artists William and Thomas Daniell. Indigo, a natural dye, was a highly priced commodity on the "Silk route". From 1600 onwards the East India Company had been aware of the benefits of indigo production in India, Gujarat and Sind were then the major sources. From mid 17th century Europeans began to buy Indigo finished textiles, cotton and silk, rather than the raw material. It was not until the second half of the 18th century that Bengal played a major role in indigo production, actively promoted by the East India Company. As a result Bengal emerged as the world's biggest producer of indigo in the 19th century. Indigo played a different role when it came to be associated with the Indian nationalism. This painting was done only five years before the indigo riots in Champaran, Bihar. The process of extracting indigo dye is quite complicated and involves a lot of labour with the plants being soaked in tanks of the kind seen in the painting. Two or three people actually get into the tank and paddle the water continuously for two to three days until the blue rises to the top. The water is drained out and the remaining blue substance is made into cakes. The process of extraction is made all the more difficult by the strong odour that emanates from the tanks. Only men undertook this job as it was believed that working in a indigo factory would make a woman sterile.
