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A collection of weapons

Anonymous Greek artist

1809

watercolor

From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum

Romanticism Early 19th Century

Dominant colour

A collection of weapons is a 1809 watercolor by Anonymous Greek artist, a Romanticism work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.

Who painted this?: Anonymous Greek artist
When & what style?: 1809 · Romanticism
Where can I see it?: Victoria and Albert Museum

About this work

This watercolour shows a group of arms and armour. The artist was Greek but worked in Ottoman style. The picture was part of a big set of views and studies that Stratford Canning paid a local artist to make while he was in Istanbul. The artist mixed Ottoman watercolour skills with European perspective tricks. Look next at the artist: Anonymous Greek artist.

The story of this work

Overview

The artwork is a collection of Ottoman weapons, including swords, sabres, daggers, a mace, an axe, two pistols, yatagans, muskets, a lance, a bow with its case, and a quiver of arrows, depicted in a study by an anonymous Greek artist. The series was commissioned by Stratford Canning during his diplomatic mission to Istanbul in 1808–1809, with the artist blending Ottoman watercolor techniques and European perspective. Originally bound in a volume, the drawings were acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1895 from Canning’s daughter, Charlotte.

Read the full account in the museum source.