.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
The album includes views of Sierra Leone, the Cameroons, the Congo, the Gambia, Guinea (the Gold Coast), Senegal and French West Africa, the Niger, Morocco, the Sahara, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and the Nile, Abyssinia, Ethiopia, the Red Sea, Mombasa, Zanzibar and Mozambique, Port Natal (Durban) and the Kat River.
A large group of watercolours concentrates on Upper Egypt, with views of Cairo and Alexandria, the Pyramids and Sphinx, the tombs and their early excavations, including sites at 'Carnac', 'Sekket' and Luxor.
The watercolours probably date to after the artist's retirement from the army in 1820 (sheets in the album are watermarked 1811 and 1816). A prolific artist since his childhood, Smith served in the British army in the Americas and is recorded as travelling in the Near East, North Africa and South America after his active service. Apart from his prolific topographical watercolours, which include numerous copies of published views, he was a military historian and an authority on natural history and historical costume.
A large group of watercolours concentrates on Upper Egypt, with views of Cairo and Alexandria, the Pyramids and Sphinx, the tombs and their early excavations, including sites at 'Carnac', 'Sekket' and Luxor.
The watercolours probably date to after the artist's retirement from the army in 1820 (sheets in the album are watermarked 1811 and 1816). A prolific artist since his childhood, Smith served in the British army in the Americas and is recorded as travelling in the Near East, North Africa and South America after his active service. Apart from his prolific topographical watercolours, which include numerous copies of published views, he was a military historian and an authority on natural history and historical costume.