474 - Edward William Cooke, RA,

Edward William Cooke, RA, British 1811-1880- Part of Luxor from the Dahabeeh 'Fostat'; pencil on paper, inscribed and dated 'PART OF LUXOR FROM THE DAHABEEH FOSTAT. 16.3.74' (lower left), 10.7 x 21.4 cm. Provenance: with Martyn Gregory, London [VC 602]. Note: Edward William Cooke was born into an artistic family, the son of the engraver George Cooke (1781-1834). A gifted draughtsman from an early age, he developed a lifelong interest in marine subjects after meeting Clarkson Stanfield RA (1793-1867) at the age of fourteen. He was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1851 and a full Academician in 1864. Alongside his artistic career, Cooke was a distinguished botanist and geologist, becoming a Fellow of the Linnean Society, the Geological Society, and the Royal Society. An enthusiastic traveller and prolific sketcher, Cooke made numerous tours throughout between 1824 and 1879, recording coastal landscapes, harbours, and shipping in his sketchbooks. He visited Egypt in the winter of 1873-74, travelling down the Nile aboard the dahabieh Queen Victoria and making numerous sketches of its landscape, architecture, boats and flora. Sixteen Egyptian scenes were published in the second edition of 'Leaves from my Sketchbook' (1877). The Royal Academy holds a collection of his Egyptian drawings [05/1377], and a view of the Philae temple complex was sold at Christie’s, London, on 11 July 2013, lot 59 (£7,500).