Joseph Austin Benwell

'The Meeting Place', signed and dated 1864. 

Watercolour signed and dated 1875, (27.5ins x 13.75ins, with frame 34ins x 20.25ins) . The painting depicts a camel caravan/procession with a woman in a 'howdah' on a white camel, and is understood to be called 'The Arab's Bride'. Refer below for more information on howdahs, one of Benwell's favourite subjects, and Arab marriage processions in the nineteenth century.

'At the Well' 1871 

At the Well' version 2, 1874, or - 'Three camels at a water trough with figures, sheep and goats and a temple in the distance'. Initialle

'At the Well'

 'An Arab caravan resting by the sea' 1865 

'Caravan at Rest' 1865

'A Halt in the Desert' 1865

Watercolour depicting Arab warriors on camel back (no title), undated

                                                                                                      'An Arab Caravan by ruins near the Nile'  

'A Rock Temple in Nubia', 1876

'In Nubia: Arabs on camels before the ruins of a Temple'  1870 

Arabs Praying in the Desert ' with a Caravan of Camels beyond'

 'An Arab Encampment'

'A Rest before the City Gates' sold Christie's 1 October 2008. 

Image size: 13 3/8 x 9 ½  ins.

Previous title 'Arabs resting outside a town' (Lot 173 Christie's sale 29 Nov 1984 and Lot  134, 13 Dec 1983), and 'Arabs resting on the outskirts of a City' (Lot 451, Sotheby's sale 6 Nov 1985). 

'Arabs resting outside a Town' signed and dated 1882 from sale at Christie's 13 December 1983. Image size 13 ¾ x 9 7/8 ins. This is slightly larger than the size given in the more recent 2008 sale, due to the 1980s replacement mount covering the edge of the 2008 image..

Left - Mahmoudiya Mosque, Jaffa 

By Edmund Gall (2014-06 Israel - Tel Aviv 11) [CC BY-SA 2.0  (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)

'Crossing the Desert '

'Travellers at Luxor', 1877 

'The Caravan'

'The Head of the Caravan passing Mount Sinai' 1877 

After William James Müller 'A group of Arabs at prayer, with distant camels' (or 'Middle Eastern landscape with figures at prayer')

'A Soldier's Refreshment' 1870 

            

'An Arab Caravan' 1877     Lot 176, Christie's 31 October 1989 (signed lower left). Also Lot 173 as 'The Caravan', Christie's New York, 21 May 1997. 12.75 x 9.625 ins (32.4 x 24.5 cm) 

 'Caravan of camels crossing the desert, mountains beyond' 1881

'A musical caravan' 

'Kom Ombo, Upper Egypt' 1876  Note the similarity in composition to 'Eastern Merchants' on the right

              'In the Desert, Sinai'  1877, or 'The Caravan'  (signed lower right)

'          'Sunset in the Valley of Sinai' signed and dated 187_ 

'Head of the caravan, Mount Sinai'  1882 

'An Arab Caravan in the Sinai Desert'   Lot 223, Christie's 2 November 1979

'Eastern Merchants'  showing a hawdaj with the fabric folded off the frame

Camel howdahs and Arabian marriage processions in the nineteenth century

'An Arab Caravan' dated 1873, signed and dated lower right. 

'The Arab's Bride' 1875 (70cm x 35cm, 27.5ins x 13.75ins)

 

'The Caravan' 1878, Lot 18, Christie's 3 November 1977

'Caravan passing by the Great Pyramids'

 ‘An Arab Caravan outside a Town’ 1871

                      'The Head of the Caravan, Valley of Sinai' 1871

'The Desert Caravan, Egypt'  1874, or  ' A Camel Train leaving Luxor' 

'The Queen of the Caravan' 1881

                                                                     'A Caravan passing the Statues of Memnon in the Plain of Goorna at Thebes' 1876

'A caravan by an Egyptian Temple' 1881 

'A caravan on the shore'  (8.38 x17ins), Lot 193, Christie's 28 April 1987

  'Halt by the Red Sea', or 'A resting caravan sharing a pipe by the water's edge' 

'A halt in the desert' 1865 

‘A Caravan in the Desert’ 1873. 19.5 x 14.25 in (49.5 x 36 cm), 

Lot 138 Sotheby Parke Bernet, London 16 October 1981

     'An Arab on a camel in a near-Eastern town' 1881 

'Outside the cafe'  1867

'Kom Ombo, Upper Egypt' 1876 

 'A Caravan with the Pyramids and Sphinx Beyond' 1868

 

                                                         'Outside the Temple of Dendera' 1877 

'The Temple of Dendera, Thebes' 1871. 

'Arab Traders feeding pigeons near a Mosque' 1874 

'The Expedition'

'Jerusalem from Bethany' 1884 (refer above).

'Mecca Pilgrims passing the Sphinx' 1884.  This is likely to be the same painting 'Pilgrims passing the Sphinx' in the above exhibition catalogue from 1884. It sold at Phillips Auction house over a hundred years later on 31 January 1994 for £1,300 (Artnet). 

 

'Arabs resting outside a Town', Christie's 13 Dec 1983                                                                 'Arabs resting on the outskirts of a City', Sotheby's  6 Nov 1985

         13 3/4 x 9 7/8 in.                                                                                                                                                               13 1/2 x 9 1/2 in. (34x24cm)   

 

'        A rest before the City gates',  Christie's 1 Oct 2008, 13 3/8 x 9½ in. (24.2 x 34 cm.)

 

Also refer to 'The Great Sphinx of Giza' below, another example of 'changing titles'. 

 'The Great Sphinx of Giza' 1886    (or,   'Resting caravan in front of the Sphinx of Giza'; or,   'Halt by the Sphynx, Egypt') 

 'Halt for Prayer under Mount Horeb' 1865

                                 'The Wandering Musicians' 1867

 'The Evening Halt'

'Arabian Market'

'Resting Arabs in the desert mountains'

'Halt in the Written Valley, Desert of Sinai' 1883

'A Mule Cart in the Alps'

note: the figures appear Eastern in appearance and in the author's opinion the scene is more likely to be set in the Himalayas, where other of JAB's illustrations were set.  

Magnified detail from background of ' A Rest before the City Gates' (above), showing Arabs at prayer 

'Bedouin Caravan in the Desert' 1867

This same painting is referred to as 'Caravan in the Desert', dated 1864 in a couple of reference sites. The 1864 date may be incorrect, based on a 2010 auction. The date in lower right hand corner appears to be 1867. 

'Beach scene' 1883 

'The Head of the Caravan, Mount Sinai' 1882

'Egyptians and their camels resting by a Temple' 1877, Christie’s Lot 108 3 October 2006

or ‘Arabs watering their camels by ruins’ 1877, Christie's Lot 160 3 November 1977, 11 x 19in (27 x 4.8cm)

 

 'Arabs with their camels by temple ruins' 1873

Magnified detail from background of ''A Rest before the City Gates' (above) - the famous 'White Camel' makes a more elusive appearance

'Coffee Shop in the Via Dolorosa, Jerusalem'  1865

 'Desert Travellers' Attributed to Joseph Austin Benwell, inscribed on the back   

   'Edward Julius Detmold'. Refer  Desert Travellers- An Enigma?        

  'The Temple of Isis, Philae' 1877  or, 'Arabs drinking coffee and smoking at the Temple of Isis, Philae' 

'An Arab Trader talking to women on the banks of the Nile', 1881

10 x18.25in (25.5 x 46.5cm). Lot 126 Sotheby Parke Bernet, London 16 October 1981

 'Egyptian Tradesmen standing before ruins'

'The Board Game' 1870  

The Building on the right Is the Mosque and Madrasa of Prince Iytamish al-Bugasi, which was built in 1383 AD. Bab al-wazir Street. Old Cairo, Egypt .

'Carpet Dealers at Philae' 1885  (Victoria & Albert Museum)

' Resting among Egyptian ruins at evening' 1875                                                                  'Egypt: music outside a Temple' 1867, or 'The wandering Musicians'

'The Desert Caravan, Egypt'  1874, or  ' A Camel Train leaving Luxor' 

'Bedouins resting by the Nile'

''Caravan passing by the Great Pyramids'