Leopold Carl Müller

H. Wallis (French Gallery), London
Alexander Young (purchased from the above in 1880)
Purchased by the grandfather of the present owners, probably in London, in the 1920s; thence by descent

This condition report has been provided by Hamish Dewar, Hamish Dewar Ltd. Fine Art Conservation, 14 Masons Yard, Duke Street, St James's, London SW1Y 6BU. UNCONDITIONAL AND WITHOUT PREJUDICE Structural Condition The canvas is unlined and the turnover and tacking edges have been strengthened with a thin strip-lining. This is ensuring a sound and even structural support and has successfully secured the areas of drying craquelure. Paint surface The paint surface has an varnish layer. Inspection under ultra-violet light shows no evidence of any retouching. Summary The painting is therefore in very good and stable condition and no further work is required.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

'You know them of course, these gracious women with their enormous water jars which they carry with such ease, one beautiful slim arm stretched vertically to the handle of the vessel, the other held up against the hip. And how beautifully their robes hang from their figures. We painters with all our intentions seem mere dabblers compared to the natural flair these women have for dressing.' So wrote Leopold Carl Müller in a letter of 1877 to his friend the Egyptologist and writer Georg Elbers (H. Zemen, Leopold Carl Müller. Ein Künstlerbildnis nach Briefen und Dokumenten, Vienna, 2001, p. 278).

During his nine trips to Egypt between 1874 and 1886, Müller's main fascination was for its people, their cultural mores and daily routines, rather than the country's topography and monuments, and the present work perfectly exemplifies this. As in a photograph, a Nubian woman and a fair-skinned girl form the focus of the composition, observed in high clarity against a more suggested - in places sketched in -  background. Müller bestows the main figure with a proud monumentality, her height accentuated by the elongated jug or bila she carries on her head, and by the bent over posture of the male water carrier to the right. 

Despite Müller's interest in capturing the essence of Egypt's people, the painting shows his awareness of, and interest in, the towns and cities he visited. The dome and minaret on the left are those of the Mosque of Ibrahim in the city of Desuk in the north-western Nile delta which Müller had visited during his first visit to Egypt in 1874. The Mosque dates to the era of Sultan Khalil Qalawuns (1280-90), but was extended in the fifteenth century by Sultan Qaitbey to accommodate the ever growing number of pilgrims to the site.

The oil study for the painting, on panel and measuring 51.5 by 83cm., was sold at Christie's London on 26 October 2005.