Achille-Constant-Théodore-Emile Prisse d'Avennes
1839
watercolor
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
A Nubian Girl standing beside the First[?] Cataract of the Nile is a 1839 watercolor by Achille-Constant-Théodore-Emile Prisse d'Avennes, a Orientalism work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.
A young girl stands by rushing river rapids, her dark skin glowing against the pale water. She wears a bright wrap and beads, her hair in tight braids. Prisse d’Avennes sketched this scene while traveling the Nile in the 1830s. He noticed how her clothes and hairstyle matched those in ancient Egyptian carvings—centuries apart, but almost the same. The painting feels like a quick, honest moment, not a posed portrait. Look up the Victoria and Albert Museum to see more of his travel sketches.
The watercolor depicts a Nubian girl standing beside the First Cataract of the Nile, holding a wicker basket. The composition combines elements from different periods, including a Roman gravestone with a fabricated Latin inscription, an ancient Egyptian stone block with hieroglyphs, and local flora and fauna. The scene reflects Prisse d'Avennes' practice of blending Egyptian motifs, as seen in his later lithograph *Nubian Females; Kanoosee Tribe. Philae* (1848). The inclusion of a Roman altar-form tombstone with anachronistic details suggests a deliberate, eclectic arrangement rather than…
Read the full account in the museum source.
Achille-Constant-Théodore-Émile Prisse d'Avennes was a French archaeologist, Egyptologist, architect and writer.
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