Pastime in Ancient Egypt
Engraver Charles William Sharpe British
After Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema British, born The Netherlands
Publisher Gebbie & Barrie American
Not on view
Harpists here accompany musicians and dancers who entertain the Pharaoh and his family within an interior adorned with lotus topped columns and a sculpture resembling a mummy case. Sharpe's engraving reproduces Alma-Tadema's 1863 painting (Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Preston), made shortly after he visited Italy and met Georg Ebers, an Egyptologist who encouraged a life-long fascination with the ancient world. "Pastimes [rather than Pastime] in Ancient Egypt" was shown at the Paris Salon of 1864 and won a gold medal, then was sent to the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, America’s first international fair. At that time Gebbie & Barrie published this engraving in a commemorative catalogue (a similar print by Sharpe, perhaps an earlier state, had appeared in London's "The Art Journal" in April 1874.)
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
