Lot 137: Elizabeth Murray née Heaphy N.W.S. (British, 1815-1882)

A moorish infant
signed 'Elizabeth Murray delt.' and inscribed 'Founqez Morocco'
watercolour heightened with white
75 x 91.4 cm. (29 1/2 x 36 in.)

Elizabeth Murray was the daughter of the artist Thomas Heaphy (1775-1835). In 1835, she was commissioned by Queen Adelaide to produce some drawings of Malta and from there went to Gibraltar and then Tangier, where she later married Henry J. Murray who was serving as British Consul.

Elizabeth became friends and gained the confidence of several Moorish ladies and was invited into their homes where she gained an insight into their lives. The present work depicts family and friends gathered at the blessing of a Moorish child. Elizabeth was deeply impressed by the exoticism of Morocco commenting,

'I recalled successively scenes from the Arabian nights and from the Bible. Indeed it seemed to me that I has gone back 2000 years'.

Elizabeth Murray, 'Sixteen Years of an Artist's Life in Morocco, Spain, and the Canary Islands', London, 1859, p.11.