The Pass of Atbara in Abyssinia

Location

Country: Bahrain
City: Manama
Place: British Embassy

Henry Salt was born and educated in Lichfield, Staffordshire. He studied under watercolourist John Glover, before moving to London in 1797 and becoming a pupil of landscape painter Joseph Farington and portraitist John Hoppner. In 1802 he made an Eastern tour of India and Ceylon as secretary and draughtsman to British peer and politician George Annesley, Viscount Valentia. They returned via Ethiopia and Egypt, arriving back in England in 1806. In 1809 Salt was sent to Abyssinia on a mission to deliver gifts and report back to the British government. He returned in 1811. Four years later he was appointed Consul General in Egypt and while there devoted himself to the study and excavation of antiquities. He died near Alexandria, aged just 47.
Daniell Havell was an aquatint engraver of topographical views, military and genre subjects after his contemporaries. He was born in Berkshire, the son of painter Thomas Havell and may also have been the nephew of the engraver Robert Havell senior (1769-1832), with whom he collaborated on a number of plates.

Places

Africa, Ethiopia

Subjects

topography, landscape C19th, tree, horse, mountain, mountain pass, stone/rock, boy, man, spear, shield

Materials & Techniques

colour aquatint

Artist

Henry Salt (1780 - 1827)
Daniell Havell (1785 - 1826)

Title

The Pass of Atbara in Abyssinia

Portfolio Title

Twenty-four Views taken in St. Helena, the Cape, India, Ceylon, The Red Sea, Abyssinia & Egypt

Date

1 May 1809

Medium

Colour aquatint

Dimensions

height: 41.50 cm, width: 59.00 cm

Acquisition

Purchased from Abbott and Holder, August 1979

GAC number

14734