Samuel Daniell

Korah Hottentots preparing to remove

The Fishing Cove near Columbo

The Koodoo

African Scenery and Animals

Samuel Daniell (born 1775 in Chertsey; died in Sri Lanka on 16 December 1811) was an English painter of natural history and other scenes in Africa and Ceylon.[1]

Life

Daniell is perhaps best known as the appointed artist for an expedition to Africa and the renderings he did there of African animals.[2] In December, 1799, he went to South Africa for the first time.[3] The drawings he made in southern Africa including a journey to Bechuanaland were published by his brother William Daniell in London.[1] During the trip to Bechuanaland he was named the official secretary and artist for the trip. The trip went from Cape of Good Hope to Bechuanaland.[3] He returned to England from the trip and co-published with William Daniell and Thomas Daniell, African Scenery and Animals, in 1804.[1][3]

He later on lived in Sri Lanka, then called Ceylon, from 1806 to his death from tropical fever.[3][4] Twelve of his drawings also were published by his brother in 1806 with the title: A Picturesque Illustration of the Scenery, Animals and Native Inhabitants of Ceylon.[1]

After Samuel Daniell's death, further engravings based on his drawings were published: In 1820, forty-eight lithographs titled Sketches Representing the Native Tribes and Scenery of Southern Africa, and in 1832, Twenty Varied Subjects of the Tribe of Antelopes.[1]

Korah-Khoikhoi dismantling their huts, preparing to move to new pastures. Aquatint 1805.

A Hottentot, a Hottentot Woman,
a Kaffre, a Kaffre Woman,
Aquatint 1805

Khoisan busy barbecuing grasshoppers
Aquatint 1804

Trekboer making a camp
Aquatint c.1804

References

"Daniell, Samuel". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
"Samuel Daniell – African scenery and animals, 1804–1805". Galaxy of Images. Smithsonian Institution Libraries.
"Sketches Representing the Native Tribes, Animals, and Scenery of Southern Africa: From Drawings Made by the Late Mr. Samuel Daniell". World Digital Library. 1820. Retrieved 2013-07-06.

Catalogue of drawings by British artists and artists of foreign origin, pg 17