When it was exhibited in the Salon of 1870, this painting was recognized as a departure from the historical and mythological works that Bonnat had shown previously. The artist is said to have based its subject on a woman and child he had seen in Egypt the prior year, during the opening ceremony of the Suez Canal.

First celebrated in Paris, the painting continued to garner praise after John Wolfe acquired it and brought it to New York. It was reproduced on the cover of the art review The Aldine in August 1875 and was included in the Centennial Loan Exhibition, held at the New York Historical Society in 1876. Bought by Catharine Lorillard Wolfe at the auction of her cousin’s collection in 1882 and bequeathed to the Metropolitan five years later, upon its debut at the Museum it was deemed "a true and vital portrait of two clearly realized individuals [with] a wonderful dignity, sobriety, strength, and beauty."　　　　　

Inscription: Signed (lower left): Ln Bonnat

John Wolfe, New York (by 1876–82; his sale, Leavitt's [Chickering Hall], New York, April 5–6, 1882, no. 95, as "Fallah Woman with Sleeping Child," for $6,000 to Wolfe); his cousin, Catharine Lorillard Wolfe, New York (1882–d.1887)

Paris. Salon. May 1–June 20, 1870, no. 298 (as "Femme féllah et son enfant").

Claremont, Calif. Pomona College Gallery. "Muse or Ego: Salon and Independent Artists of the 1880's," April 16–May 12, 1963, no. 8 (as "Egyptian Fellah Woman and Child").

London. Royal Academy of Arts. "The Orientalists: Delacroix to Matisse: European Painters in North Africa and the Near East," March 24–May 27, 1984, no. 6 (as "A Bashibazuk [Un Bashi-Bazouk]," anonymous loan to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; dates it about 1818).

Washington. National Gallery of Art. "The Orientalists: Delacroix to Matisse: The Allure of North Africa and the Near East," July 1–October 28, 1984, no. 6.

Karl Bertrand. "Salon de 1870: Peinture." L'Artiste, 9ème sér., 13 (June 1870), p. 308, as "Femme fellah".

[Jules] Castagnary. "Salon de 1870 (Cinquième article)." Le Siècle (May 23, 1870), p. 1.

Marius Chaumelin. "Salon de 1870." La Presse (June 27, 1870), p. 1, comments that the figures appear almost too sculptural.

Théophile Gautier. "Salon de 1870." Journal officiel (July 18, 1870) [excerpt reprinted in Ref. Vento 1888, p. 65].

René Ménard. "Le Salon de 1870 (2e et dernier article)." Gazette des beaux-arts, 2nd ser., 4 (July 1870), p. 39.

Elie Sorin. Le Salon de 1870: Peinture et sculpture. Angers, 1870, p. 8 [reprinted in "Revue historique, littéraire et archéologique de l'Anjou," 4ème sér, vol. 7 (1872), p. 32].

Aldine 7 (August 1, 1875), ill. on cover (engraving after the painting by T. Cole), as "A Mother of Egypt".

J. B. F. W. "First Steps." Aldine 9 (December 1, 1878), p. 195.

The Art Treasures of America. reprint, 1977. New York, 1879, vol. 1, pp. 54–55, calls it "Fellah Woman" and dates it 1870; notes that it was studied from life while Bonnat attended the opening of the Suez Canal.

Cicerone. "American Art Galleries: Collection of Mr. John Wolfe." Art Amateur (June 1880), p. 5, calls it "Fellah Woman" and considers it "probably the finest specimen known to private collections".

Montezuma [Montague Marks]. "My Note Book." Art Amateur 6 (April 1882), p. 93.

Montezuma [Montague Marks]. "My Note Book." Art Amateur 6 (May 1882), p. 115, notes that it sold for $6,000 to Catharine L. Wolfe "after spirited competition" at John Wolfe's sale.

Saint-Juirs in Grands peintres français et étrangers. 2, Paris, 1886, p. 270, as "Femme fellah et son enfant".

"Gallery and Studio: The Metropolitan Museum of Art." Art Amateur 18 (December 1887), p. 7.

"The Fine Arts: Recent Gifts to the Metropolitan Museum." Critic (April 16, 1887), p. 194, as "Fellah Woman and Child".

"The Wolfe Pictures." New York Times (November 7, 1887), p. 4.

Mrs. Schuyler van Rensselaer. "The Wolfe Collection at the Metropolitan Museum. II." Independent 39 (November 24, 1887), p. 9, [erroneously] recalls seeing this picture at the Salon of 1868.

Clarence Cook. Art and Artists of Our Time. New York, 1888, vol. 1, p. 172, as "A Fellah Woman and her Child".

Claude Vento (Violette). Les Peintres de la femme. Paris, 1888, p. 65, as "Une Femme Fellah et son enfant".

Walter Rowlands. "The Miss Wolfe Collection." Art Journal, n.s., (January 1889), p. 14.

Sophia Antoinette Walker. "Fine Arts: The Painting Master in the Wolfe Collection." Independent 46 (August 2, 1894), p. 12.

"The Metropolitan Museum of Art—The French Painters." New York Times (May 22, 1895), p. 4.

William Sharp. "The Art Treasures of America (Concluded.)." Living Age, 7th ser., 1 (December 3, 1898), p. 604, refers to it as one of Bonnat's "studies of Egyptian fellaheen".

Arthur Hoeber. The Treasures of The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York. New York, 1899, p. 82, as "Egyptian Fellah Woman and Child".

W. C. Brownell. French Art: Classic and Contemporary Painting and Sculpture. New York, 1901, p. 111.

D[aniel]. Cady Eaton. A Handbook of Modern French Painting. New York, 1909, p. 271, remarks that it had tremendous success at the Salon of 1870.

Léonce Bénédite. "Léon Bonnat (1833–1922)." Gazette des beaux-arts, 5th ser., 7 (January 1923), p. 9, erroneously locates this picture in the Musée de Bayonne.

Charles Sterling, and Margaretta M. Salinger. "XIX Century." French Paintings: A Catalogue of the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2, New York, 1966, pp. 187–88, ill., note that in 1869 Bonnat was in Egypt, where he made studies from life, including a sketch for this picture (Musée Bonnat, Bayonne); remark that "it is one of the last subject pictures Bonnat made before devoting himself entirely to portraits".

Eric M. Zafran. French Salon Paintings from Southern Collections. Exh. cat., High Museum of Art. Atlanta, 1982, p. 136, under no. 48, compares it to Lecomte-Vernet's painting "Fellah Woman Carrying Her Child, Egypt" (1872; collection Stuart Pivar).

Jane Munro in The Orientalists: Delacroix to Matisse, The Allure of North Africa and the Near East. Exh. cat., Royal Academy of Arts, London. New York, 1984, p. 118, no. 6, ill. [British edition, "The Orientalists: Delacroix to Matisse: European Painters in North Africa and the Near East," London, 1984, same pagination], dates it 1870; states that it is one of Bonnat's first Orientalist paintings; mentions the influence of Velázquez and Michelangelo, noting that this picture "technically reflects little of the impact of Bonnat's eastern travels in 1868–69"; observes that the pose of the figures recalls Bonnat's "Ascension of the Virgin" (1868; St. André, Bayonne) as well as predicts Gauguin's "Ia Orana Maria (Hail Mary)" (MMA 51.112.2).

Rebecca A. Rabinow. "Catharine Lorillard Wolfe: The First Woman Benefactor of the Metropolitan Museum." Apollo 147 (March 1998), pp. 53, 55 n. 38, states that Wolfe purchased this painting for $6,000 from the second sale of John Wolfe's collection.

Vincent Ducourau. Musée Bonnat, Bayonne. Paris, 2004, p. 50, calls the version in the Musée Bonnat an enlarged replica of our picture [see Ref. Sterling and Salinger 1966]; notes the influence of Raphael's "Sistine Madonna" (Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden) on this composition.