Prints

In 1784, the English artist Thomas Daniell received permission from the East India Company to travel to India "to follow his profession of an engraver." He was accompanied by his nephew, William Daniell, who was also a good painter. They travelled on board the East Indiaman Atlas to China and continued to Bengal in a country vessel, reaching India by early 1786.

They returned to China in 1793. At this time England was at war with France and so the Daniells joined a convoy of thirteen East Indiamen and three foreign vessels which left Macao in March 1794 with Lord Macartney and the members of his embassy for the return leg of their journey from China.

Their travels both to and in India and China resulted in some fine paintings which would in turn would be made into beautiful aquatints. A Picturesque Voyage to India by the way of China was published in 1810. It records the journey from England, with scenes taken at Madeira, the Cape of Good Hope, Java, Macao, Canton, the Straits of Malacca, and Calcutta. The work also contains images of Malays and Chinese. As with other works by the Daniells, the book has become rare.