DAVID ROBERTS R.A.
(1796-1864)
Saida, Ancient Sidon
Provenance
Francis Egerton, 1st Earl of Ellesmere (1800-1857)
Dowager Countess of Ellesmere, 1857
The Ellesmere sale, Christie's, London, 2 April 1870, lot 72
Mackay (purchased at the above sale)
Sir John Buchanan-Jardine, 3rd Bt. (1900-1969)
His sale, Sotheby's, London, 12 July 1967, lot 255
S. Spector (purchased at the above sale)
Davis Galleries, New York (by 1968)
Gloria Kaplan, New York
Exhibited
New York, Davis Galleries, Edward Lear and David Roberts, 1968, no. 9
The present watercolour was drawn after Roberts returned to England from his eleven month journey to Egypt and the Holy Land (August 1838 to July 1839), and it was this image that was lithographed for his ground-breaking series: The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt & Nubia. Roberts returned to the subject of Sidon, this time working in oils, in both 1854 and 1858. The latter work was exhibited at the British Institution and was sold at Sotheby’s on 23 April 2013.
The present watercolour’s provenance is distinguished. It was among the group of works that were acquired directly from Roberts between 1843 and 1845 by Lord Francis Egerton, later 1st Earl Ellesmere. Egerton was an important patron of the arts who had travelled to the Holy Land in 1839. Later it belonged to Sir John Buchanan-Jardine, 3rd Bt. of Castlemilk, Scotland, who owned a significant collection of watercolours by Roberts, including views of Tyre, Petra, Suez, Jerusalem and Ascalon.
The present work was lithographed by Louis Haghe for The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt & Nubia, in 1843 (pl. 73, with the title: Sarda Ancient Sidon) and in 1855 (pl. 73, with the title: Sidon).