Edward Lear, Anadoluhisari, Istanbul, on the Bosphorus.
Inscribed and dated ‘Bosphorus./1. Sept. 1848′ (lower left) and again in pencil (lower right) and numbered ’17’ (lower right) and further inscribed with colour notes. Pencil, pen and brown ink and brown wash on paper. 10 ¾ x 14 in. (27.4 x 35.4 cm.).

Lear visited Constantinople in 1848 as the guest of Lady Canning, the wife of the British Ambassador in Turkey, setting off from Corfu with the Cannings on 30 May 1848 and travelling by way of Athens where he fell ill. Anadoluhisari is the fortress on the Anatolian side of the Bosphorus and gives its name to the Quarter around it. It was built between 1393 and 1394 by Ottoman Sultan Bayezid as part of the preparations for the 2nd Ottoman Seige of Constantinople which took place in 1395. It is the oldest architectural structure in Istanbul.

Christie’s.