An Album of Sketches and Illustrations from the Artist's Travels through Constantinople, Athens, Jerusalem, Beirut, Cyprus, Cairo, Marseille, and other cities

Jean Nicolas Henri de Chacaton was born in Chezy, France in 1813 and was considered one of the earliest Orientalists. He traveled extensively, bringing back with him sketches and ideas for his larger canvases. Chacaton's good friend Prosper Marilhat, the French Neoclassicist painter, was of great influence to him, and his teachers included Louis Hersent, another Neoclassicist, and Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres. He exhibited at the Salon from 1835 to 1857 and won medals for his works in 1838, 1844, and 1848. While he painted Arabian prisoners, Eastern landscapes, and Arab caravans, he is best known for his work in the museum of Moulins entitled Fantassin arabe et Vue prise dans la vallée de Josaphat. Although little is known about the life of Chacaton, the present lot provides evidence of his travels and exploration. Chacaton documented his travels in the present sketchbook, filling the pages with fifty watercolors and pencil sketches of architecture, landscapes, events and costumes he encountered in Cairo, Constantinople, Athens, Jerusalem, Beirut, Cyprus, Marseille and other cities.



Marriage Procession at Suez by torchlight.

Constantinople Mosque of St. Sophia.

Our arrival at the gates of Jerusalem, March 30, 1839.

Constantinople, Subline Port.

Constantinople, Mosque of Sultan Ackmat.

Beirout, Now destroyed.

Our caravan in the Desert.

Nile Boat.