Souvenir de Constantinople et d'un Voyage fait en Egypte en 1845, par le Duc alors Prince Roger de Bauffremont. Aquarelles de Preziosi et du Vicomte Adalbert de Beaumont

Constantinople and Egypt: Unpublished, 1845. Portfolio. 42 watercolors hinged onto 20 period card mounts, 7 signed by Preziosi, 1 signed by Beaumont, ranging in size from 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches to 13 x 20 1/2 inches, 37 with contemporary ink manuscript caption titles on the mount, the remaining 5 with neat pencil captions within the images, some images additionally captioned by the artists. Housed in burgundy cloth chemise within a period burgundy morocco box made to resemble a paneled binding with gilt edges, signed by A[lphonse] Giroux (1776-1848), a pupil of Jacques-Louis David who manufactured the first daguerreotype camera, at Rue du Coq S. Honore, No. 7, Paris, with original white silk lining in moiré pattern and white ribbon, clasped together with gold lock on fore-edge complete with key

Provenance: Prince Roger de Bauffremont.

A captivating collection of watercolors of Turkish and Egyptian scenes, accomplished by two notable nineteenth-century Orientalist artists, documenting a journey through the region by the French Prince Roger de Bauffremont that was intended to be published as a travel book.

Some of these forty-two watercolors of Beaumont and Preziosi depict views of the Bosphorus, Therapia, and other sites in and around Constantinople. The remainder depict scenes and costumes of Egypt. Each an aristocrat, though Beaumont was French and Preziosi Maltese, they were both known as illustrators of travel books in the mid-nineteenth century. Preziosi's books were lavish chromolithographic affairs, as the present portfolio was likely intended to be. Preziosi had published Costumes of Constantinople (1844) the previous year, and would go on to issue Stamboul (1858) and Souvenir du Caire (1862). The son of Count Gio Francois Preziosi of Malta, Preziosi initially studied law before turning to painting. After studying under Giuseppe Hyzler, Preziosi finished his art training at the Paris Académie des Beaux-Arts. He moved to Constantinople in 1842, fell for the city, and was able to make a living painting the places and peoples that surrounded him. It is noted in the Atabey catalogue that "Preziosi was well-known. His studio is mentioned in Murray's guidebooks for 1854 and 1871. By that time he had become an institution in the city. He produced views of the city, and genre and costume drawings." [The Ottoman World] His paintings sold well to both the affluent local and the Grand Tourist, and his reputation was such that he also served as court painter to Sultan Abdul Hamid II. Less well-known, though no less skilled, is the other artist represented in these watercolors: Adalbert de Beaumont. De Beaumont traveled extensively, and authored several acclaimed works on Orientalist design and ornamentation. The present watercolors, accomplished on behalf of a traveling French prince, were never published and constitute a valuable and exquisitely rendered documentary of the sites visited and local costumes of the period. It is, as it were, a lost work from a bygone era. Provenance: Levy Sale Sotheby's April 20, 2012 (sold at $ 134,500); Collection Peter Tillou (who sold 14 watercolours). Watercolour Titles: 1.) "Souvenir de Constantinople Title Page." 9 ½ x 6 1/2" 2.) "Femmes Turques." (2 watercolours on one sheet) 8 x 10 ¼" 3.) "Costumes Turques et Armeniens. Constantinople Septembre 1843." (2 watercolours on one card mount) 11 ½ x 8 ¾" 4.) "Vues de Therapia sur le Bosphore: En face du Palais de France; Palais de France." (1 pencil drawing and 1 watercolour on one card mount) 9 x 13 ¼" 5.) "Pont de Brousse. Asie Mineure." 14 x 20 ½" 6.) "Fouak sur le Nil." 13 x 19 ¼" 7.) "Birket el Shaouareb. Le Caire." 13 ¾ 20 ¼" 8.) "Costumes Tures et Egyptiens." (4 watercolours on one card mount) 7 ½ x 5 ½" 9.) "Costumes de la Haute et de la Basse Egypte." (6 watercolours on one card mount) 5 ½ x 4" 10.) "Costumes de la Haute et de la Basse Egypte. (6 watercolours on one card mount) 2 are 6 x 4 ½", 2 are 7 ½ x 5 ½" and 2 are 4 ¼ x 5 3/4" 11.) "Costumes Tures. Constantinople." (2 watercolours on one card mount) 10 x 7" 12.) "Costumes Grecs." (2 watercolours on one card mount) 10 x 7" 13.) "Nubiens dans le Désert." 9 ½ x 14 ¼" 14.) "Musiciens du Maroc." 10 ¼ x 15" 15.) "Vue du Bosphore prise de la Rive l'Asie." 13 ¼ x 18 3/4" 16.) "Les Murailles de Constantinople." 13 ¾ x 20" 17.) "Un Canal a Venise." 16 x 11 ¼" 18.) "Une Porte de la Mosquee de Bajazet. Constantinople 1845." 14 x 8 ½" 19.) "Mosquee de Shazade. Constantinople 1845." 13 ¼ x 8 ¾" 20.) "Palais Persan." 8 ¾ x 6 ¾"; [3 Egyptian figures: figure with camel, figure in traditional costume, water bearer] 6 x 4 1/2"; "Therapia." 4 x 5 ½" (4 watercolours and one pencil drawing on one card mount)

Llewellyn, The People and Places of Constantinople: Watercolors by Amedeo Count Preziosi. Sotheby's, The Ottoman World: The Library of Sefik E. Atabey, p.535.