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Scowen & Co. Views of Sri Lankan archaeological sites
97.R.51
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Title: Views of Sri Lankan archaeological sites by Scowen & Co. and Joseph
Lawton,
Date (inclusive): 1870-1893
Number: 97.R.51
Creator/Collector:
Scowen & Co.
Physical Description:
1.5 Linear Feet
(1 box: 24 albumen prints)
Repository:
The Getty Research Institute
Special Collections
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles 90049-1688
reference@getty.edu
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10020/askref
(310) 440-7390
Abstract: The collection comprises views of
structures and sculptures in Sri Lanka from the sites of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa. The
twelve photographs of Anuradhapura are by Charles Thomas Scowen. The photographs of
Polonnaruwa were likely all taken by Joseph Lawton. The photographs were taken shortly after
the rediscovery of these important Buddhist monuments, but before official excavations were
begun by the Archaeological Department of Ceylon in the 1890s.
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Language: Collection material is in English
Charles T. Scowen (1852-1948) arrived in Sri Lanka as an assistant to R. Edley, a
commission agent, in 1873. In 1876 he established his first photographic studio, Scowen
& Co., in Kandy, and by 1885 he had opened a studio in Colombo. Scowen & Co., which
was especially known for its flower and plant studies, was active until the mid-1890s when
Colombo Apothecaries Co. acquired its entire negative stock. Scowen, who appears to have
become a proprietary tea planter for a time in Sri Lanka, died in Sudbury, England.
The British photographer, Joseph Lawton, who was initially employed in Kandy, Sri Lanka, by
the trading company H. C. Bryde and Sons, established his own photographic studio in that
town in the mid-1860s. In 1870 he was commissioned by the Archaeological Committee, which
had been established by the Governor of Ceylon in 1868, to photograph the main
archaeological sites in Sri Lanka. After working at the sites of Anuradhapura, Mihintale,
Polonnaruwa and Sigiriya during 1870 and 1871, where he was often actively involved in
clearing the jungle so that the sites could be photographed and excavated, Lawton fell ill.
He returned to England to recover, but died there in 1872. Lawton produced two sets of
photographs from his photographic campaigns for the Archaeological Committee, one of which
was retained in Sri Lanka and the other of which was sent to the Colonial Office in London,
and is now in the British National Archives. Lawton's studio, under the direction of his
wife Helen, continued selling his photographs to the tourist market. The studio was taken
over by R. Charter in 1885 and Lawton's original negatives were scattered among many buyers
and are now considered to be lost.
Open for use by qualified researchers.
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Views of Sri Lankan archaeological sites by Scowen & Co. and Joseph Lawton, 1870-1893,
The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession no. 97.R.51.
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa97r51
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Acquired in 1997.
The collection was processed in 2018 by Beth Ann Guynn who also wrote the finding aid.
The collection was digitized by the repository in 2018 and the images are available
online:
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection comprises views of structures and sculptures in Sri Lanka from the sites of
Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa dating from the 10th to 13th centuries AD, with some components
dating to the 2nd century BC. The photographs of Anuradhapura were all taken by Charles
Thomas Scowen or one of his studio operatives. Structures depicted at Anuradhapura include
the Issurumuniya temple, Lowamahapaya (the Brazen Palace) and Ruwanweliseya, the Buddha's
relic shrine. Also shown are many sculptural elements and Buddha statues of the Abhayagiri
Dagoba as well as the site's bas-relief sandakada pahanas or moon-stones.
The photographs of Polonnaruwa were likely all taken by Joseph Lawton. At Polonnaruwa sites
include the Gal Vihara temple, Dalada Maligawa, Abhayagiri (Northern) monastery and the
Thivanka Pilimage (Image House) as well as various sculptural elements such as statues of
lions, the Buddha and the Gal Pota, or Book of Stone.
Two photographs are unidentified as to either site or photgrapher and include a view of a
house or temple built under a large oblong rock and a colossal standing Buddha statue.
The photographs in the collection were taken shortly after the rediscovery of these
important Buddhist monuments, but before official excavations were begun by the
Archaeological Department of Ceylon in the 1890s. The sites have been extensively excavated,
modified and restored since the photographs were taken.
The 12 Scowen photographs have printed captions in the negative. Eleven of these also bear
the photographer's printed name: Scowen & Co. Three photographs have both a printed name
and "Scowen" written in the negative, and one photograph has only "Scowen" written in the
negative.
Ten photographs by or attributed to Joseph Lawton have pencil captions on their versos with
numbers apparently correlating to plate numbers in one of Lawton's publications. One
photograph has "Lawton" written in the negative on the trunk of a felled tree.
The collection is arranged in a single series:
Series I. Views of Sri Lankan archaeological
sites by Scowen & Co. and Joseph Lawton, 18710-1893.
Lawton, Joseph, d. 1872
Ruwanweliseya (Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka)
Stūpas -- Sri Lanka
Buddhist sculpture -- Sri Lanka
Monuments -- Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka -- Description and travel
Anuradhapura (Sri Lanka) -- Antiquities
Alahana Parivena Site (Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka) --
Antiquities
Photographs, Original
Albumen prints -- 19th century -- Sri Lanka
Scowen & Co.