James Fergusson FRS (22 January 1808 – 9 January 1886) was a Scottish-born architectural historian, mainly remembered for his interest in Indian historical architecture and antiquities. He was an important figure in the 19th-century rediscovery of ancient India. He was originally a businessman, and though not formally trained as an architect, designed some buildings and decorative schemes.

Life

Education and India

Fergusson was born in

Ayr Ayr (; sco, Ayr; gd, Inbhir Àir, "Mouth of the River Ayr") is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. It is the administrative centre of the South Ayrshire council area and the historic county town of Ayrshire. With a population ...

, the son of William Fergusson (1773–1846) an army surgeon. After being educated first at the Royal High School, Edinburgh, and then at a private school in Hounslow, he went to India to work as a trader at his family's mercantile house of Fairlie, Fergusson & Co. of

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commerc ...

. Here he became interested in the remains of the ancient architecture of India, little known or understood at that time. The successful conduct of an indigo factory, as he states in his own account, enabled him to retire from business after about ten years and settle in London. His observations on

Indian architecture Indian architecture is rooted in its history, culture and religion. Among a number of architectural styles and traditions, the best-known include the many varieties of Hindu temple architecture, Indo-Islamic architecture, especially Mughal ...

were first published in his book on ''The Rock-cut Temples of India'', published in 1845. The task of analysing the historic and

aesthetic Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed th ...

relations of this type of ancient buildings led him further to undertake a historical and critical comparative survey of the whole subject of architecture in ''The Illustrated Handbook of Architecture, being a Concise and Popular Account of the different Styles of Architecture prevailing in all Ages and Countries'', a work which first appeared in 1855 in two volumes. It was followed in 1862 by one entitled ''A History of the Modern Styles of Architecture'', being a sequel to the ''Handbook of Architecture''. The 1855 work was reissued ten years later in a much more extended form in three volumes, under the title of ''A History of Architecture in all Countries from the Earliest Times to the Present Day.'' The chapters on

, which had been considered at rather disproportionate length in the Handbook, were removed from the general History, and the whole of this subject treated more fully in a separate volume, ''The History of Indian and Eastern Architecture'', which appeared in 1876, as the fourth volume to ''The History of Architecture''. The 1876 work was later revised with additions by James Burgess and

Richard Phené Spiers Richard Phené Spiers (1838 – 3 October 1916 London) was an English architect and author. He occupied a unique position amongst the English architects of the latter half of the 19th century, his long mastership of the architectural school at ...

in 1910 and published in two volumes.

United Kingdom

In 1849 Fergusson published a metaphysical study, ''Historical Inquiry into the True Principles of Beauty in Art: More Especially with Reference to Architecture''. Some of his essays on special points in archaeology, such as the treatise on ''The Mode in which Light was introduced into Greek Temples'', included theories on Greek temples which did not receive general acceptance. Like many of his contemporaries, Fergusson was concerned about British preparedness to resist a French invasion and he published ''An Essay on a Proposed New System of Fortification: with Hints for its Application to our National Defences'' (1849), ''The Peril of Portsmouth; or, French Fleets and English Forts'' (1852) and ''Portsmouth Protected: a Sequel to the Peril of Portsmouth'' (1856). In 1859, he was the only civilian appointed to the Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom, which subsequently recommended a huge programme of coastal fortifications that became known as "

Palmerston's Follies The Palmerston Forts are a group of forts and associated structures around the coasts of the United Kingdom and Ireland. The forts were built during the Victorian period on the recommendations of the 1860 Royal Commission on the Defence of the U ...

". He received the gold medal of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1871. Among his works, besides those already mentioned, are: ''Palaces of Nineveh and Persepolis restored'' (1851), ''Mausoleum at Halicarnassus restored'' (1862), ''Tree and Serpent Worship'' (1868), ''Rude Stone Monuments in all Countries'' (1872), and ''The Temples of the Jews and the other Buildings in the Haram Area at Jerusalem'' (1878). The sessional papers of the Institute of British Architects include papers by him on ''The History of the Pointed Arch'', ''Architecture of Southern India'', ''Architectural Splendour of the City of Beeja pore'', on the ''Erechtheum'' and on the ''Temple of Diana at Ephesus''. Although not a prolific practising architect, a small number of examples of Fergusson's architecture remain in existence, the most notable of which are the parliament building of Jamaica, and the Marianne North Gallery in Kew Gardens. Fergusson was adviser with

Austen Henry Layard Sir Austen Henry Layard (; 5 March 18175 July 1894) was an English Assyriologist, traveller, cuneiformist, art historian, draughtsman, collector, politician and diplomat. He was born to a mostly English family in Paris and largely raised in It ...

in the scheme of decoration for the

Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the ...

n court at

The Crystal Palace The Crystal Palace was a cast iron and plate glass structure, originally built in Hyde Park, London, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. The exhibition took place from 1 May to 15 October 1851, and more than 14,000 exhibitors from around th ...

, and in 1856 assumed the duties of general manager to the Crystal Palace Company, a post which he held for two years. In 1866 he was a member of a committee to advise Henry Scott on design aspects of the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no governm ...

, along with architects

William Tite Sir William Tite (7 February 179820 April 1873) was an English architect who twice served as President of the Royal Institute of British Architects. He was particularly associated with various London buildings, with railway stations and cemetery ...

and

Matthew Digby Wyatt Sir Matthew Digby Wyatt (28 July 1820 – 21 May 1877) was a British architect and art historian who became Secretary of the Great Exhibition, Surveyor of the East India Company and the first Slade Professor of Fine Art at the University of Cam ...

, and the engineers John Hawkshaw and John Fowler. In 1847 Fergusson published an Essay on the ''Ancient Topography of Jerusalem'', in which he contended that the Mosque of Omar was the identical church built by Constantine the Great over the tomb of our Lord at Jerusalem, and that it, and not the present church of the Holy Sepulchre, was the genuine burial-place of Jesus. The burden of this contention was further explained by the publication in 1860 of his ''Notes on the Site of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem''; and ''The Temples of the Jews and the other Buildings in the Haram Area at Jerusalem'', published in 1878, which was a further elaboration of these theories, which are said to have been the origin of the establishment of the Palestine Exploration Fund. Grave of William and James Fergusson in Highgate Cemetery

Grave of William and James Fergusson in Highgate Cemetery

Fergusson died in London on 9 January 1886 and is buried with his father on the west side of

Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in north London, England. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East Cemeteries. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for some of the people buried there as ...

Selected publications

*Fergusson, James
''An historical inquiry into the true principles of beauty in art, more especially with reference to architecture''
(1849), London: Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans. *Fergusson, James
''An Essay on a Proposed New System of Fortification: with Hints for its Application to our National Defences''
(1849), London: John Weale. *Fergusson, James. ''The Illustrated Handbook of Architecture'' (1855). London: John Murray
Vol. I
an
Vol II.
*Fergusson, James
''Tree and Serpent Worship, or Illustrations of Mythology and Art in India''
(1868) London: W H Allen & Co. *Fergusson, James
''Rude Stone Monuments in all countries''
(1872) London: John Murray, Albemarle Street. *Fergusson, James. ''History of the modern styles of architecture'' (1891). New York: Dodd, Mead
Vol. I
an
Vol. II
*Fergusson, James, et al. History of Indian and Eastern Architecture'', 2nd Edition (1910). London: J. Murray
Vol. I
an
Vol. II

References

;Attribution *

External links

* *
James Fergusson at arthistoricum.net
(German) {{DEFAULTSORT:Fergusson, James 1808 births 1886 deaths People educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh 20th-century Scottish historians Ferguson, James Fellows of the Royal Society Recipients of the Royal Gold Medal British architectural historians 19th-century Scottish architects Burials at Highgate Cemetery Historians of India