Dadd was at Mylasa with Sir Thomas Phillips at the beginning of October 1842, en route from Magnesia, in central Greece, to Halicarnassus (now Bodrum) in Turkey. This painting is the earliest known work that Dadd painted in Bethlem Hospital and was worked up from a drawing in the only sketchbook from his travels that he had retained. It depicts a caravan inn where travelers could rest and where merchandise was received. Gallery label for Lure of the East - British Orientalist Painting (Yale Center for British Art, 2008-02-07 - 2008-04-28)
Created by Richard Dadd (1817–1886), the artist; ...; acquired by Thomas Turton, Bishop of Ely (1780–1864), Ely House, London, England [1]; sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, April 14, 1864 (lot 21, ‘The Caravanserai at Mynasa, in Caria, Asia Minor’) [a]; ...; acquired by John Heugh, Holmewood, London, England [2]; sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, April 24, 1874 (lot 107, ‘Caravanserai at Mylassa, Asia Minor’) [unsold] [b]; purchased at auction by ‘Graves’ at Christie, Manson & Woods, in London, England, March 17, 1877 (lot 38, ‘Caravanserai at Mylasa in Caria, Asia Minor’), in "Ancient & Modern Pictures and Water-Colour Drawings" [c]; ...; acquired by Robert Rawlinson (1810–1898), London, England by 1883 [3][d]; by inheritance to his wife, Ruth Rawlinson (née Swallow) (1811–1902), London, England; sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, in London, England, May 18, 1903 (lot 120, ‘An Eastern Courtyard’) [e]; ...; acquired by Arthur Clifton (1863–1932), London, England [4]; by inheritance to his wife, Madeline Clifton (née Knox) (1890–1975), London, England; acquired by Thos. Agnew & Sons, London, England; purchased by Paul Mellon (1907–1999), 1961 [f]; by whom given to the Yale Center for British Art, 1981. Notes: [1] Thomas Turton was an academic and the Bishop of Ely from 1845 to 1864. His obituary shares that he was an art collector. [2] John Heugh was a Manchester-based industrialist, art patron, and collector with a particular interest in English watercolors. [3] Robert Rawlinson was an English civil engineer, sanitarian, and art collector. Rawlinson lent the painting to the Fine Art & Industrial Exhibition at Huddersfield in 1883 as no. 280, titled ‘Eastern Inn Yard.’ This is also documented on a label on the back of the canvas. Since Rawlinson was consulted by the Commissioners in Lunacy to inspect the sewage, drainage and water supply systems of the nation’s asylums throughout the 1860s, it is possible that Rawlinson encountered Dadd during his inspections of Bethlem or Broadmoor. [4] Arthur Bellamy Clifton was an art dealer and the director of the Carfax Gallery, best known as the site where the Camden Town Group held its three exhibitions. Although formally educated as a solicitor, Clifton began working at the gallery in 1901 and assumed directorship in 1908. Citations: [a] Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods, Catalogue of the Very Extensive and Valuable Collection of Ancient and Modern Pictures and Miniatures formed by the late Rt. Rev. The Lord Bishop of Ely (London: W. Clowes and Sons, 1864), 5. [b] Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods, Catalogue of the Holmewood Collection of Watercolour Drawings and Modern Pictures of John Heugh, Esq. (London: Wm. Clowes and Sons, 1874), 17. [c] Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods, Catalogue of Capital Ancient & Modern Pictures and Water-Colour Drawings (London: Wm. Clowes and Sons, 1877), 7. [d] Algernon Graves, A Century of Loan Exhibitions: 1813–1912 (London: Algernon Graves, 1915), 5:2245. [e] Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods, Catalogue of the Collection of Modern Pictures and Drawings of Sir Robert Rawlinson, K.C.B. C.E. (London: Wm. Clowes and Sons, 1903), 20. [f] Malcolm Cormack, Concise Catalogue of Paintings in the Yale Center for British Art, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 1985, pp. 76-77.
Malcolm Cormack, Concise Catalogue of Paintings in the Yale Center for British Art, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 1985, pp. 76-77, N590.2 .A83 (YCBA) [YCBA]
Painting in England 1700-1850 : collection of Mr. & Mrs. Paul Mellon : Exhibition at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, , , Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA, 1963, p. 102 (v.1), no. 163, ND466 V57 v.1-2 (YCBA) [YCBA]
Painting in England 1700-1850 from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, The Royal Academy of Arts Winter Exhibition 1964-65., , Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK, 1964, pp. 35-36 (v.1), no. 119, N5220.M45 R69 1964 (YCBA) [YCBA]
The lure of the east : British Orientalist painting: wall labels, , Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 2008, p. 89], V 2577 (YCBA) V 2577 [Website]
The lure of the East, British orientalist painting, 1830-1925 , Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 2008, p. 16, V 1879 (YCBA) [YCBA]
Nicholas Tromans, Richard Dadd, the artist and the asylum , Tate Publishing, London, 2011, pp. 90, 91, fig. 44, NJ18 D121 T76 + (YCBA) [YCBA]
Yale University Art Gallery, Painting in England, 1700-1850, from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon : [exhibition at] Yale University Art Gallery, April 15-June 20, 1965, , vol. 1, W. Clowes and sons, New Haven, 1965, pp. 17-18, no. 59, ND466 Y35 (YCBA) [YCBA]
