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Portrait head of Edward William Lane (1801-1876) in a turban

Maker

(artist)
1809-1896

Title

Date of Production

1838

Medium

graphite, watercolour and bodycolour on card

Dimensions

Height: 20.3 cm
Width: 15.8 cm

Accession Number

D.1952.RW.3805

Mode of Acquisition

Robert Clermont Witt, bequest, 1952

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

Label Text

The scholar of Arabic Edward William Lane (1801-1876) lived in Cairo for several years between 1825 and 1849. Lane immersed himself in the culture of Ottoman Egypt for scholarly research and regularly dressed like a wealthy Ottoman Egyptian. In 1838 he published a new translation of Arabian Nights in English, adding copious ethnographic notes which suggested that the stories were credible accounts of life in Egypt. In this portrait, an inscription identifies Lane as the “interpreter of the Persian Prince”, a reference to a character in Arabian Nights.

Provenance

given to Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952), L.2228b, n.d.; Witt Bequest 1952

Exhibition History

Drawing on Arabian Nights, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 22/02/2023-04/06/2023

Literature

Blunt, Anthony, Hand-list of the drawings in the Witt Collection, London, 1956
p. 40

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: none.

Inscription: Recto: lower edge, graphite, described and signed with graphite: "Interpreter of the Persian Prince. GR". Outer front mount (removed, see photo), Recto: lower right, graphite: "George Richmond / 1809-1896 / Portrait of Edward William Lane / (1801-1876) / Translator of the Arabian nights. / Signed G.R. + inscribed by artist / 'Interpreter of the Persian Prince.'".

Collector's mark: Verso: lower left corner, stamped in black: Sir Robert Witt (L.2228b).

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