Medinet Habou, Thebes, Egypt

Details

David Roberts, R.A. (1796-1864)
Medinet Habou, Thebes, Egypt
signed and dated 'David Roberts. 1838.' (lower right) and signed indistinctly, inscribed and dated twice 'Medinet Habou [sic], Thebes Visto 1838/David Roberts R.A. 1838' (lower left)
pencil and watercolour, heightened with white
12¾ x 19¼ in. (32.5 x 48.9 cm.)

Exhibited

London, Barbican Art Gallery, David Roberts, November 1986-January 1987, no. 129.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis This lot is subject to Collection and Storage charges

Sale room notice

Please note that additional cataloguing details for this lot should read
Probably Anon. sale; Christie's, London, 25 January 1901, lot 93,
D. Fincham Cortington.
Anon. sale; Sotheby's, London 14 March 1985, lot 97.
Anon. sale; Christie's, London, 9 April 1991, lot 174.
Exhibited:

London, Frost and Reed, 1985.

Engraved:
L. Hague, Egypt and Nubia, 1846-9, vol. II, pl. 63.

We are grateful to Briony Llewellyn for this information.

Lot Essay

The present watercolour depicts the great 20th dynasty mortuary temple of Rameses III (c. 1182-1150) and adjoining temples at Medinet Habu on the west bank of the Nile at Thebes (Luxor). To the right, behind the hills in the distance, lies the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings.
David Roberts was in Egypt from September 1838 until February 1839 before going on to Palestine and the Lebanon, returning home with a wealth of sketches. Roberts visited the Medinet Habu on two occasions and on 21 October 1838 recorded 'we then visited the temple of Medinet Habu, which of all those standing on the west bank of Thebes is the most extraordinary, beyond description' (F. Bourbon and A. Attini, Yesterday and Today. Egypt. Lithographs and Diaries by David Roberts, R.A., Vercelli, 1996, p. 181, no. 76.

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