A Shaykh with his Son[?] on Mules, with their Sais [groom]
1820
watercolor
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
1820
watercolor
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
A Shaykh with his Son[?] on Mules, with their Sais [groom] is a 1820 watercolor by S. Bossi, a Orientalism work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.
This watercolor shows three men in bright, simple clothes walking beside two mules. The man in the middle, wearing a light turban and green pants, sits on one mule while holding a stick. The man on the right, with a green hat and beard, rides the other mule and holds its reins. The man on the left, in blue with a red cap, walks barefoot beside them, holding a long pole. Notice the mules’ saddles are plain but decorated with red cloth. The artist used soft colors and loose lines, making the scene feel calm and everyday. Next, check out the Victoria and Albert Museum to see more works like this.
A watercolour drawing by S. Bossi from around 1820 depicts a shaykh accompanied by his son, both riding mules with a groom walking alongside. The attribution to Bossi is based on stylistic comparisons with lithographs from Edward Joshua Cooper’s *Views in Egypt and Nubia* (1824–27), for which the artist provided drawings during Cooper’s travels in Egypt and Nubia between 1820 and 1821.
Read the full account in the museum source.
S. Bossi left a small but striking group of watercolours from the early 1820s that show daily life in Egypt under Ottoman rule. Three works in this set pair riders with their grooms—one shaykh and his son on mules,…
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