African Continent

Creator:: Commander William Allen, R.N. (1792-1864), author; W.L Walton, lithographer
Description:: Tinted and colored lithograph From Picturesque views on the River Niger, sketched during Lander’s last visit in 1832-33 London: John Murray, Hodgson & Graves and Ackermann, 1840
Curatorial Notes:: English Navy officer William Allen created sketches of the Niger River during an expedition there from 1832-33 led by Richard Lander. One of the great rivers of Africa, the Niger runs about 2,600 miles in West Africa. It is seen here in this panoramic view on the left as it meets up with the Benue River visible over the trees. The Benue was previously known as the Chadda and is one of the major tributaries of the Niger.
Photography:: David Kelly Crow

Creator:: Samuel Daniell (1775-1811)
Description:: Hand-colored aquatint From African Scenery and Animals, with Descriptions London: S. Daniell, 1804-1805
Curatorial Notes:: Samuel Daniell was both a nephew of Thomas Daniell, the “artist-adventurer,” and the younger brother of William. At age 24, he began a 700-mile journey in South Africa from the Cape to Lataku, the seat of King Mooliahaben of the Booshuanas. Upon return to England in 1803, he issued this work based on drawings made during the journey. Still restless, he trekked to Sri Lanka, published A Picturesque Illustration of the Scenery, Animals and Native Inhabitants of the Island of Ceylon in 1808, and died there in 1811.
Photography:: David Kelly Crow

Creator:: Samuel Birch (1813-1885), descriptions; Jules Goury (1803-1834), drawing; George Moore, lithographer
Description:: Lithography, by George Moore; from Sketches taken in 1832-3, by Owen Jones and the late Jules Goury: with Historical Notices of the Monuments, by S. Birch, Esq., senior assistant in the department of antiquity, British Museum. London. From Views on the Nile: from Cairo to the Second Cataract London: Graves and Warmsley, 1843
Curatorial Notes:: The years 1832-1834 produced several concurrent artistic travels: David Roberts in Spain, William Allen in Africa, John Frederick Lewis in Spain as well as architects Owen Jones and Jules Goury in Egypt. The result of Jones’ and Goury’s effort in Egypt is an almost scientific work, providing commentary from the leading authority on Egypt at the British Museum. Contemporary opinion considered the renderings of “beauty and interest”; however, other writers considered views of Egypt “picturesque” in the sense of “characteristic, [and] attractive.”
Photography:: David Kelly Crow

Creator:: David Roberts (1796-1864), drawings; Louis Haghe (1806-1885), lithographer; William Brockedon, F.R.S. (1787-1854), text
Description:: Tinted lithograph (one or two tints), colored From Egypt and Nubia from drawings made on the spot by David Roberts, R.A. Volume II London: F.G. Moon, 1846-1849
Curatorial Notes:: A Scotsman who succeeded in the competitive London art scene, David Roberts began his career as a scenery painter for the theatre. In 1823, he sold pictures from his first exhibition and his career was under way. His embrace of the picturesque came with the 1837 publication, Picturesque Sketches In Spain Taken During the Years 1832 & 1833. On display here is a plate from his trip to “the East” starting in 1838. It was a self-funded trip, fulfilled a lifelong dream, and provided bounteous drawings for his massive publications on the Holy Land (1842-49: 3 vol.) and Egypt and Nubia (1846-49: 3 vol.).
Photography:: David Kelly Crow

In Pursuit of the Picturesque