- 2
John Frederick Lewis, R.A.
Estimate
40,000 - 60,000 GBP
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Description
- John Frederick Lewis, R.A.
- Seated Arab Merchant at Suez
- inscribed and dated in pencil Suez / 184? lower left
- watercolour over black chalk, heightened with bodycolour and gum arabic
- 35 by 44cm., 13½ by 17½in.
Provenance
Possibly, the artist’s estate
Sale: Christie’s, London, 4-7 May 1877, lot 198, as ‘Meccaweh: Suez, 1844’, bought Evans, and /or sale from the artist’s estate, London, Christie’s, 3 May 1897, lot 24, ‘Meccaweh smoking, Suez’, bought Lightfoot; thence by descent within the artist’s family
Sale: Christie’s, London, 4-7 May 1877, lot 198, as ‘Meccaweh: Suez, 1844’, bought Evans, and /or sale from the artist’s estate, London, Christie’s, 3 May 1897, lot 24, ‘Meccaweh smoking, Suez’, bought Lightfoot; thence by descent within the artist’s family
Exhibited
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Laing Art Gallery, John Frederick Lewis R.A., 1971, no. 62
Literature
Major-General Michael Lewis, C.B.E., John Frederick Lewis, R.A., 1805-1876, 1978, p. 85, no. 433 (possibly the same as no. 410)
Condition
The colours are fresh and strong on this wonderful image. The work is not laid down. There is a little movement in the sheet. Overall the condition is excellent.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
Catalogue Note
During his nearly ten year sojourn in Cairo in the 1840s, Lewis visited Sinai several times, passing through Suez on his route. The port on the Gulf of Suez, at the northern end of the Red Sea, had not yet assumed the significance it would attain after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, but it was nevertheless an important centre of trade between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean. Traders from the towns of Yemen and Arabia would congregate there and this striking individual is likely to be a wealthy merchant.
It is possible that the sheet, or a version of it, was the ‘Meccaweh: Suez, 1844’ recorded in the artist’s sale of 1877 and/or the ‘Meccaweh smoking, Suez’, in the artist’s widow, Marian Lewis’s sale in 1897 (see above). ‘Meccawee’ or ‘Makkawi’ is colloquial Arabic for a male inhabitant of Mecca. How Lewis persuaded him to sit for this portrait is not known, but the informality of his pose perhaps suggests some familiarity with the artist. He is seated, bare foot, and wears a rich red gibbeh (or jubbah: outer robe), with a red and yellow striped shawl wrapped loosely around his head and shoulders. He holds the end of the long sheesha (hookah) pipe to his mouth, smoking contemplatively, but other than the tall vessel containing the water for the pipe to his right, there is no indication of his surroundings and nothing to distract us from Lewis’s intense scrutiny of his face and garments. He is not romanticised nor patronised, but portrayed as Lewis found him, as a specific, albeit unnamed, individual. We are grateful to Briony Llewellyn for her help in cataloguing this work.
It is possible that the sheet, or a version of it, was the ‘Meccaweh: Suez, 1844’ recorded in the artist’s sale of 1877 and/or the ‘Meccaweh smoking, Suez’, in the artist’s widow, Marian Lewis’s sale in 1897 (see above). ‘Meccawee’ or ‘Makkawi’ is colloquial Arabic for a male inhabitant of Mecca. How Lewis persuaded him to sit for this portrait is not known, but the informality of his pose perhaps suggests some familiarity with the artist. He is seated, bare foot, and wears a rich red gibbeh (or jubbah: outer robe), with a red and yellow striped shawl wrapped loosely around his head and shoulders. He holds the end of the long sheesha (hookah) pipe to his mouth, smoking contemplatively, but other than the tall vessel containing the water for the pipe to his right, there is no indication of his surroundings and nothing to distract us from Lewis’s intense scrutiny of his face and garments. He is not romanticised nor patronised, but portrayed as Lewis found him, as a specific, albeit unnamed, individual. We are grateful to Briony Llewellyn for her help in cataloguing this work.