Henry Salt (1780-1827) (after)
D. Havell (died c. 1826) (engraver)
The Vale of Calaat -- No. XXII
Sandy Bay Valley in the Island of St. Helena -- No. I
William Miller, Albemarle Street, London: 1809
Hand-colored aquatints
20 x 27 inches, sheet
$1,750 the pair
Exotic Landscape Views
Henry Salt, 1809
Henry Salt, 1809
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Pair of landscape views from a larger set entitled "Twenty-four views in St. Helena, the Cape, India, Ceylon, the Red Sea, Abyssinia and Egypt." The views are by Henry Salt, British Consul-General in Egypt, and well known artist, traveler, and antiquary. Salt's own collection of Egyptian antiquities was sold by Sotheby's in 1835, and many are now in the collection of the British Museum.
The period of exploration of Egypt, the Middle East, and India in the early 19th Century supported the French Empire and Regency periods, with a more literal interpretation of classicism in architecture, furniture, and decorative arts, as reflected in the works of Thomas Hope and others.
In The Vale of Calaat, Salt shows native peoples near a small village with magnificent red brown mountains in the distance, in what was then known as Abyssinia, now called Ethiopia. The other view shows a family in the mountainous rocky terrain of St. Helena, an isolated island in the South Atlantic Ocean, a British overseas territory.
Condition: Generally good condition with the usual light toning, wear, soiling, foxing. Some mild toning and chips in borders, but margins ample and easily matted out.