A column of oriental travelers scattered by a dust storm

West settled in Bristol in the 1820s and was quickly recognized as a leader by local artists. This work belongs to a group of monochrome drawings he made while associated with the Bristol Sketching Society before 1840. Members met at one another's houses, and a contemporary recorded West as having made "sketches at the drawing parties which delight all who see them . . . chiefly Eastern scenes . . . illuminated by . . . all kinds of natural and preternatural light." Here, he laid in the primary elements using brown wash, then turned to pen and ink for details, and scratched into the pigment to create highlights. Two swirling pillars of cloud recall the Old Testament subject of the Israelites crossing the Sinai desert, but close inspection indicates that West likely intended to represent an oriental camel train threatened by huge dust devils.