FDA-D.329-2010
Parts
Object number
FDA-D.329-2010
Object type
Identification
Title
Philae on the Nile
Whiteley
Whiteley
Title Type
assigned by cataloguer
collection
collection
Comments
Lear first travelled up the Nile in January and February 1855. He stayed at Philae, well known for the praise heaped upon it by earlier generations of travellers, for ten days and went on to paint at least twenty oils from his sketches. The Eton watercolour derives from a later visit to Egypt in 1867, when Lear wrote in his diary, 'lo! - after 13 years - Beautiful Philae once again - and more beautiful than ever'. The watercolour shows the Temple of Isis to the right, with the later Kiosk of Trajan in the centre. On the construction of the first Aswan Dam in 1902, the island was submerged; the buildings were dismantled and re-erected on another higher island nearby.
Other number
MFW 20
Description
Content (place)
Egypt
Dimensions
height (actual size): 165mm
width (actual size): 257mm
width (actual size): 257mm
Inscription
Inscribed 'Nile. Philae 1867. EL' (lower left)
Materials & techniques note
Graphite and watercolour with white bodycolour
Production
Person
Lear, Edward, 1812 - 1888 (Artist)
Date
1867
History and association
Object history note
Provenance: with Agnew's, 1969; collection of Martin Whiteley; by whom bequeathed to Eton College
Exhibited: 'A Genius for Watercolour', Christie’s, London, 6 to 24 January 2003, catalogue number 65
Exhibited: 'A Genius for Watercolour', Christie’s, London, 6 to 24 January 2003, catalogue number 65
Previous ownership
References
• Christie's, A Genius for Watercolour; Watercolours from the Eton College Collection, exhibition catalogue, London, 2003 (p. 73, no. 65)
