Edward Lear, The Island of Philae, above the First Cataract on the Nile, from the South, Afternoon.
Signed and dated E. Lear 1855 lower right; inscribed, signed and dated Philae/ Edward Lear 1855/ I will see before I die/ The Palms and Temples of the south on a label on the reverse. Oil on canvas. Unframed: 90.5 by 148.5cm., 35¾ by 58½in. Framed: 106 by 163.5cm., 41¾ by 64¼in.
Provenance
Purchased from the artist by William Neville Esq. of Highbury, with whom it remained until his death in 1874 when it was bequeathed to the artist in memory of their friendship
Sale: Spink & Son, London, 29 November 1976
Purchased from the above by Martin R. Davies, Bristol
Literature
Lady Strachey, The Letters of Edward Lear, London, 1907, p. 314, no. 116
Amelia Edwards, A Thousand Miles up the Nile, London, 1974, illustrated in reverse on the cover
Vivien Noakes, Edward Lear 1812-1888, London, 1985, pp. 146-147, illustrated p. 38
Exhibited
London, Royal Academy, 1856, no. 625
Royal Academy, London, Edward Lear 1812-1888, no. 52
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