Raft Conveying Winged Bull to Baghdad, Austen Henry Layard

Place of origin: nimrud, iraq (painted) materials and techniques: watercolour over pencil, with scratching out, on stiff paper marks and inscriptions: lettered on former mount with title dimensions: height: 23 cm, width: 33 cm historical context note: formerly attributed to layard: see searight archive. Layard describes the removal of the winged bull from nimrud in nineveh and its remains, 1849, ch. Xiii. It was loaded on to a raft and, on 22 april 1847, sent off down the tigris to basrah. Although cooper was not present on this occasion, he subsequently witnessed similar events, and would have been able to reconstruct the scene, perhaps using a sketch by layard to layard's second expedition to excavate the ruins of ancient nineveh in 1849-51: see his discoveries in the ruins of nineveh and babylon; with travels in armenia, kurdistan and the desert: being the result of a second expedition undertaken for the trustees of the british museum, 1853. Cooper's diary for january-august 1850 was in the possession of a descendant, mrs irene lyon coldstream: see photocopy in the searight archive. Other drawings from this expedition are in the bm, department of western asiatic antiquities. An oil, scene from the excavations at nineveh, 1852, was formerly with the mathaf gallery, london. Descriptive line: watercolour, `raft conveying winged bull to baghdad', about 1850, by frederick charles cooper. Date: between circa 1849 and circa 1850 (painted).