1840
watercolor
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
Maculla. Town. Coast of Arabia. Coal Depot is a 1840 watercolor by Robert Moresby, a Romanticism work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.
This painting shows a coastal town built right up against steep cliffs. The buildings are packed tightly together, with a few taller structures standing out. In the water below, two small boats drift near the shore, and the sea looks calm. The cliffs rise sharply, with layers of rock exposed like steps. The artist used soft watercolors to show light and shadow across the landscape. Look up Victoria and Albert Museum to see this painting in person.
A watercolour drawing by Captain Robert Moresby depicts the town of Maculla on the Arabian coast, likely created after his Red Sea survey during a later voyage to India. Another view of the same location appears in F.R. Chesney’s 1850 publication *Expedition for the Survey of the Rivers Euphrates and Tigris*. The work was purchased from Appleby’s in Ryder Street in 1966 for £18, according to Rodney Searight’s records.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Captain Robert Moresby was a British naval officer, hydrographer and surveyor who served in the Bombay Marine and Indian Navy.
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