Edward Lear, Gebel Wardan, Sinai.
Inscribed and dated l.r.: Gebel Wardan 10.50.AM. / 19.Jany. 1849 (64). Brown ink and pencil. 7.5 x 35.5cm / 2.9 x 14.0in.
Provenance:
Mr and Mrs Godfrey Pilkington of the Piccadilly Gallery
Lear drew a large number of sketches on his travels through Egypt and the Sinai desert, having left Malta for Alexandria at the start of 1849. We know that later on this day in 1849, he was close to Hawara, the site of a complex Roman subterranean necropolis and the pyramid of Amenemhat III (No. 70 in the series depicts an Encampent Near Hawara, sold Christie’s, South Kensington, Old Master and Early British Drawings and Watercolours, 6th December 2012, Lot 277)
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