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Call Number:
MSS 38
Creator:
Porcher, Edwin Augustus, 1824-1878
Title(s):
79. General view of the site of Utica. June 10th, 1858. Published.
Date:
1858 June 10
Classification:
Archives and Manuscripts
Series:
Series I: Drawings
Part of Collection:
Oversize 2
Provenance:
E.A. Porcher donated 16 drawings related to his Cyrene expedition to the British Museum in 1865. He left his remaining papers and watercolor works to Lieut. Col. Cecil Du Pre Penton Powney (b. 1862), his sister’s surviving son, who donated views, plans and elevations from the Cyrene expedition to the British Museum in 1894. The remaining manuscripts and drawings were inherited by Powney’s daughter, Beryl Wyndham Powney (c. 1896 -1976). Several components of the Porcher collection were sold by private dealers beginning in the 1970s (see 'Related Archival Materials Note' for Porcher holdings in other institutional collections).
Conditions Governing Access:
The materials are open for research.
Conditions Governing Use:
The collection is the physical property of the Yale Center for British Art. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts.
Scope and Content:
This watercolor was engraved and published as “A View of the Site of Utica” in Nathan Davis’ <emph render="italic">Carthage and Her Remains</emph> (page 414). The engraving omits the seated figures and inverts the two main figures and the horse, adding a running figure with a musket. Davis writes: “At the exact time specified by Lord Lyons, HM steamer “Harpy” arrived. She was commanded by Lieut. Porcher, who was instructed by the admiral not only to convey me to the sites of the various ancient cities above named, but to render me every assistance in his power – instructions which this officer was ready to carry out, and did carry out to the best of his abilities.” Porcher and his crew (praised by Davis as “sturdy marines”) assisted with the removal and transportation of a number of mosaics and sculpture from the excavation site at Utica, which according to Davis was once on the water but now “seven or eight miles’ distance from the sea”. Utica aided Rome in the destruction of Carthage. Davis describes the area as already “ransacked of building materials,” and yet “marble and granite shaft, capitals, and cornices of every order, size and dimension, which lie about here in all directions, are certainly a great attraction for antiquarian research” (409).
Additional Notes:
B1977.14.22171
Physical Description:
1 drawing : watercolor, body color, on medium-thick beige paper, affixed to card mount ; sheet 26 x 36 cm, mount 36.5 x 52 cm
Genre:
Watercolors (paintings), Pictorial works, Diaries, Letters, and Ships' logs
Subject Terms:
Anglo-Burmese War, 2nd, 1852
Antiquities
Antiquities, Roman
Chron
Colonies
Description and travel
Excavations (Archaeology)
Fortification
Harbors
History, Naval
Junks
Navigation
Pagodas
Piracy
Pirates
Punic antiquities
Ships
Temples
Voyages and travels
Subject Period:
1849-1861
1850-1900
Associated Places:
Asia
Burma
Carthage (Extinct city)
China
China Sea
Cyrene (Extinct city)
East Asia
Gozo Island (Malta)
Grand Harbour (Malta)
Great Britain
Guangzhou (China)
Hong Kong (China)
Malta
Mellieh̳a (Malta)
Pulau Pinang (Malaysia : State)
Qrendi (Malta)
Singapore
Trincomalee (Sri Lanka)
Tunis (Tunisia)
Tunisia
Utica (Extinct city)
Valletta (Malta)
Associated People/Groups:
Boxer (Ship : 1855-1865)
Cleopatra (Ship : 1843)
Davis, N. (Nathan), 1812-1882
Great Britain. Royal Navy
Harpy (Ship : 1845-1909)
Hibernia (Ship : 1804-1902)
Kertch (Ship)
Melville, Harden Sidney, active 1837-1882
Porcher, Edwin A., 1824-1878
Porcher, Madelina
Finding Aid Title:
Edwin Augustus Porcher Collection
Archival Object:
https://archives.yale.edu/repositories/3/archival_objects/2875
Metadata Cloud URL:
https://metadata-api.library.yale.edu/metadatacloud/api/aspace/repositories/3/archival_objects/2875?mediaType=json&include-notes=1&include-all-subjects=1