Sketches of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs and wall paintings

Drawing from a sketchbook by William Barns Wollen (1857-1936), no date.

The horizontal figure at the bottom of the page is a Sherden mercenary in the service of Egypt.

Wollen exhibited many paintings at the Royal Academy of Arts in London from 1879. He was highly regarded for his battle paintings and, as a 'special' artist with 'The Sphere', he went to South Africa to cover the Boer War (1899-1902). By 1916, in the midst of the First World War, Wollen's romantic depictions of military glory were increasingly condemned in the press as predictable and conventional.

From a collection of 43 sketchbooks of pencil, pen and ink drawings, 'Military and Miscellaneous sketches 1874-1924'.