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Lot Essay
Almost certainly made for James ("Abyssinian") Bruce of Kinnaird (1730-1794), the famous African explorer, who claimed to have found the source of the Nile. Bruce (an athletic figure who stood six feet four) was one of the first to put Africa on the map with his extensive travels in Abyssinia, related in his Travels to discover the Sources of the Nile in the Years 1768-1773, published in five volumes in 1790. In fact he had not found the source of the Nile, and had only reached the spring of its main tributary, the Blue Nile
Bruce's extravagent tales of the interior were met with some scepticism by polite society on his return to London in 1794, and after a short period of some celebrity, he returned to his estate in Stirlingshire. He shot, entertained visitors, played with his children, and meditated on his past adventures
See Alan Morehead, The Blue Nile, London, 1964; Miles Bredin, The Pale Abyssinian, London, 2000
Bruce's extravagent tales of the interior were met with some scepticism by polite society on his return to London in 1794, and after a short period of some celebrity, he returned to his estate in Stirlingshire. He shot, entertained visitors, played with his children, and meditated on his past adventures
See Alan Morehead, The Blue Nile, London, 1964; Miles Bredin, The Pale Abyssinian, London, 2000