This steely-eyed boy dressed in ceremonial Albanian military uniform was the son of Sulayman Pasha al-Faransawi. The latter had been born in France as Octave-Joseph-Anthelme Sève, served under Napoleon, then moved to Egypt to help modernize its army. He eventually converted to Islam, changed his name, and married a Greek woman. This portrait of their son communicates the family’s status at the top of Egyptian society; the boy, attended by a Nubian holding a rifle, sits ramrod straight and prepares to draw his sword. Lewis reached Egypt in 1841 and remained for nearly a decade to record the region’s dress, architecture, and customs. An earlier version of this portrait, inscribed 1848, shows the attendant with a horsehair whisk instead of a peacock-feather fan.
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Open Access
As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.
API
Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.
Use your arrow keys to navigate the tabs below, and your tab key to choose an item
Title:Iskander Bey and His Servant
Artist:John Frederick Lewis (British, London 1804–1876 Walton-on-Thames)
Sitter:Iskandar Bey (Mohamed el Mahdy) (Egyptian, born 1836)
Date:ca. 1848
Medium:Watercolor and gouache (bodycolor) over graphite
Dimensions:Sheet: 20 in. × 14 1/2 in. (50.8 × 36.8 cm)
Classification:Drawings
Credit Line:Bequest of Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, 2019
Accession Number:2019.138.5
Inscription: Inscribed lower right in gray watercolor (possibly in another hand): "J. F. Lewis / Cairo"
Mrs. M. Fitzpatrick, until 1969, sold at the following; Sotheby's, London, June 19, 1969, lot 77; Thomas Agnew & Sons, Ltd., bought (£900) at the preceding; Private Collection, United States, January 1970; Thomas Agnew & Sons, Ltd.; Private Collection, United States, December 1970; Spink, London, in 1978; The Fine Art Society, London (British), in 1978, sold to the following; Charles and Jayne Wrightsman, to 1986; Jayne Wrightsman (American), from 1986
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "British Vision, 1700–1900: Selections from the Department of Drawings and Prints," December 7, 2023–March 5, 2024.
The Wrightsman Pictures, 2005, cat.107; Lewis 1978, no. 455
Sotheby's, London Fine Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Drawings. Sale catalogue. June 19, 1969, p. 20, lot 77, as "Prince Hassan seated on a divan attended by a servant...," inscribed Cairo, ill.
Thomas Agnew & Sons, Ltd. Ninety-seventh Exhibition of Water-Colours and Drawings. Dealer catalogue, January 19-February 20. 1970, cat. 115, as "Prince Hassan and His Servant".
The Fine Art Society, London Eastern Encounters: Orientalist Painters of the Nineteenth Century. Dealer exh. cat., June 26-July 28. 1978, cat. no. 44, p. 46, as "Iskander Bey and His Servant," illustrated on cover.
Major-General Michael Lewis John Frederick Lewis, R.A., 1805–1876. 1978, cat. no. 455, p. 86, fig. 42, as "Prince Hassan & His Servant," watercolor, 20 1/4 x 15 in.
Spink, London English Watercolours and Drawings. Dealer catalogue. 1978, cat. no. 112, p. 26, as "Prince Hassan and His Servant".
Michelle Verrier The Orientalists: All Colour Paperback. London, 1979, cat. no. 45, as "Prince Hassan and his Servant," n.d., watercolour and gouache, 51.5 x 38.1 cm (Fine Art Society, London).
The Fine Art Society, London Spring '97. May 6 to June 6, 1997, cat. no. 4, p. 4, Lewis's other version of the subject (Private Collection, Cairo, 1978; Fine Art Society, 1997)., ill.
Caroline Williams "John Frederick Lewis: "Reflections of Reality." Muqarnas. Vol. 18, 2001, pp, 233, 236, discusses the servant's identity and the Islamic text on the wall.
Joan DelPlato Multiple Wives, Multiple Pleasures: Representing the Haren, 1800–1875. 2002, note 35, p. 254 (refers to the sitter's headdress, citing Lewis 1978, pl. 42).
Black Victorians: Black People in British Art, 1800-1900. Published in conjunction with the exhibition Black Victorians, Manchester Art Gallery, Oct. 1, 2005-Jan. 6, 2006, and Birmingham Museum of Art, Jan. 28-April 2, 2006. Jan Marsh, 2005, p. 41, in Briony Llewellyn, "Observations and Interpretations: Travellling Artists in Egypt".
Everett Fahy, Pierre Rosenberg, Elizabeth E. Barker, George R. Goldner et al. The Wrightsman Pictures. New York and New Haven, 2005, cat. 107, pp. 375-80, entry by Elizabeth E. Barker, ill.
Peyton Skipwith "The Fine Art Society 1954-2004: A Fifty Year Survey." FAS Now. The Fine Art Society, London, Spring 2007, p. 21, Lewis's other version of the subject (Private Collection, Cairo, 1978; Fine Art Society, London, 1997; Sotheby's, London, June 9, 1998, lot 24; Christie's, London, June 21, 2001, lot 9)., ill.
"Recent Acquisitions, A Selection: 2018–20, Part II Late Eighteenth Century to Contemporary.." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. Spring 2021, p. 14, ill.
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
The Met's collection of drawings and prints—one of the most comprehensive and distinguished of its kind in the world—began with a gift of 670 works from Cornelius Vanderbilt, a Museum trustee, in 1880.