The Croatian Portative Narguilé
Guys made this drawing while serving as correspondent for the "Illustrated London News" during the Crimean War (1853-56). In 1855, Croats assisted the British and French in clearing land to build a railway from Balaclava toward Sebastopol. This quick sketch of a man smoking a portable hookah served as a reference for a larger, more complex scene, "Croatian Camp" (Smith College Museum of Art), which was published as a wood engraving on September 8, 1855.
Artwork Details
- Title: The Croatian Portative Narguilé
- Artist: Constantin Guys (French, Flushing 1802–1892 Paris)
- Date: 1855
- Medium: Pen and brown ink with brush and gray and brown washes
- Dimensions: sheet: 6 9/16 x 8 in. (16.7 x 20.3 cm)
- Classification: Drawings
- Credit Line: Gift of Anne K. Jones, in memory of Edward Powis Jones, 2003
- Object Number: 2003.388.3
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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