Achille-Constant-Théodore-Emile Prisse d'Avennes
1840
watercolor
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
J.W.P.'s Kanja moored beside the East bank of the Nile at Luxor is a 1840 watercolor by Achille-Constant-Théodore-Emile Prisse d'Avennes, a Orientalism work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.
You see a wooden boat tied to the shore of the Nile at Luxor, its tall mast and striped sail casting shadows on the water. Prisse d’Avennes sketched this while living in Egypt, where he worked as an engineer before quitting to explore on his own. He filled notebooks with drawings like this—quick, accurate, and full of life. The watercolor looks almost like a photograph, but it’s looser, with brushstrokes you can still see if you look close. To see more of his travel sketches, visit the Victoria and Albert Museum.
This watercolour depicts a kanja, a traditional Nile boat, moored on the east bank of the Nile near Luxor, with the view directed toward Gabal Qurnat on the west bank. The Colossi of Memnon are faintly visible among the palm trees in the background. The boat flies a red ensign, suggesting a British traveller, identified only as J.W.P., who hired the vessel for travel along the Nile. The work was created by Achille-Constant-Théodore-Emile Prisse d'Avennes, who frequently illustrated such journeys for patrons during the late 1830s and early 1840s.
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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