Edward Lear

Private collection, USA

Sale: London, Sotheby's, 29 November 1973, lot 178

Leger Galleries, London, by 1975

Acquired from the above by Martin R. Davies, Bristol, April 1975

Sheffield, Graves Art Gallery, Edward Lear. Watercolours, Oils and Drawings, 1988 

London, The Fine Art Society, A Centenary Exhibition, 1988

This drawing was created on the 9 January 1849, three days after Lear's arrival in Cairo. He had just spent nine months travelling in the eastern Mediterranean and he had long wanted to experience Egypt. In Cairo he met his friend John Cross and together they set out by camel on the route from Cairo to Suez. Lear fell ill in Suez and this curtailed his plans, ultimately forcing him to abandon his travels in the region. He was, however, hugely inspired by the landscapes and people of Egypt and he would return on three further occasions.