A FINE COLLECTION OF TWENTY-SEVEN EARLY WATERCOLOUR VIEWS OF THE NILE, PRODUCED DURING A WINTER CRUISE IN 1864-65, DEPICTING THE ANCIENT SITES AND LANDSCAPES OF UPPER EGYPT, NUBIA, AND THE SECOND CATARACT

Twenty-seven original watercolours on paper, comprising one three-part panorama (13 x 108.5cm), three two-part panoramas (13 x 72.5cm), seven panoramas (13 x 36cm), ten large watercolours (26 x 36cm), and six other watercolours (ranging between 20 x 30cm and 16 x 23cm). All with original manuscript paper labels recording the date and scene depicted. All are mounted on new card mounts and housed in a handsome custom-made green cloth box with gilt-lettered morocco title label to the lid. Condition is excellent, with the watercolours in fine condition.

An atmospheric group of beautifully-executed watercolours created by a British traveller during an early Dahabiya cruise up the Nile between November 1864 and February 1865. The traveller arrived at Alexandria on 17th November and took a classic Nile voyage, reaching slightly beyond the Second Cataract, and returning to Middle Egypt on 6th February. Beginning with a view of the skyline of Alexandria taken from the sea, the collection goes on to document the Great Pyramids of Giza, the Pyramids of Saqqara and the nearby Serapeum necropolis, ancient quarries at Tora and Gebel el-Tair (with the Coptic Convent of the Pulley seen on top of the cliffs), the ancient sites of Thebes, the banks and cliffs of the Nile (including a three-part panorama of the Aboo Faydee, the highest rocks between Cairo and the Second Cataract, near modern-day Asyut), the temples of Upper Egypt and Nubia, including a view of the interior of the Tomb of Ramesses III in the Valley of the Kings, and depictions of the Nile valley near the Beni Hasan necropolis and the Speos Artemidos temples. Composed with a great sense of light and space, these fresh, airy paintings wonderfully convey the sense of discovery that must have been felt by this early European tourist-artist, with specific moments in time (for example, "Before breakfast, Nov. 29th, Dashoor Sakkara", or "here we saw the 1st crocodile") perfectly captured by their creator's free, easy line. An understated but highly evocative collection, unusual for its early date and the specificity of the encounters depicted.

Stock code: 21357

£6,500

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Original Artwork
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Natural History
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