Samuel Daniell

Samuel Daniell (1775 – 16 December 1811) was a British painter of natural history and other scenes in Africa and Ceylon.^[1] He first went to the Cape Colony in 1799.

Life

Daniell is perhaps best known as the appointed artist for a 1799-1802 expedition to South Africa and the renderings he did there of African animals.^[2] He was born and reared in Chertsey.

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, Daniell 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 his brothers William Daniell and Thomas Daniell, African Scenery and Animals, in 1804.^[1]^[3]

Daniell later lived in Sri Lanka, then called Ceylon, from 1806 to 1811, when he died from tropical fever.^[3]^[4] His brother William published twelve of his drawings 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
Booshuana women manufacturing earthen ware 1805
Bushmen Hottentots armed for an expedition 1804