Bearded Man in Oriental Costume

This delicate watercolor of an elderly Arab, which may represent the Tunisian ambassador to the British Court of St. James's, was made about 1780 by Humphrey, a portrait painter and miniaturist. He devoted his attention to the assertive profile and turbaned head of the sitter, rendering the robes and setting more broadly with rapid pen strokes and pale blue, pink, brown, and gray washes.
In the eighteenth century, Tunisia was nominally part of the Ottoman Empire but was ruled in effective independence by the Husseinite beys. As one of the "Barbary States" of North Africa, it patronized pirates who did not hesitate to capture unprotected European vessels in the Mediterranean, seize their cargo, and hold their passengers for ransom. To allay this threat, the British government made annual payments to the bey of Tunis; thus, the latter's ambassador would have been a significant figure in London diplomatic circles.