SALT, HENRY (1780-1827)

SALT, HENRY (1780-1827)

Artist, traveller and collector of antiquities. Salt went to London in 1797 and became a pupil, first of Joseph Farington, R.A., and later, in 1800, of John Hoppner, R.A. On 3 June 1802 he left London for a long eastern tour with George Annesley, Viscount Valentia (afterwards second Earl of Mountnorris), whom he accompanied as secretary and draftsman. In the course of the tour Salt made numerous drawings, some of which were used to illustrate Valentia's ‘Voyages and travels to India, Ceylon, the Red Sea, Abyssinia and Egypt in 1802-1806,’ 3 vols. (London, 1809) and others for his own ‘Twenty-four views taken in St Helena, the Cape, India, Ceylon, the Red Sea, Abyssinia and Egypt’ (London, 1809). The originals of the drawings were kept by Lord Valentia. For a generalogy of Salt and his family, and also references to him, see ‘The Life of Mrs Sherwood’ (London, 1854), ed. Sophia Kelly.

In January 1809, Salt was sent to Abyssinia by the British Government to take presents to the King. He returned in January 1811, and in 1814 published ‘A Voyage to Abyssinia.’ In 1815 he became British Consul-General in Egypt where he encouraged excavations and formed large collections which were later acquired by the British Museum.

Note: The references to Valentia's ‘Voyages’ refer to the 1809 edition.

Bibliography: J.J. Halls, ‘Life and correspondence of Henry Salt,’ 2 vols. (London, 1834); Mildred Archer, 'Forgotten painter of the picturesque: Henry Salt in India, 1802-1804', ‘Country Life,’ 19 November 1959, 890-1.

---------------------

WD98-105; WD358; WD493

10 drawings made in India, Ceylon and Abyssinia between 1803 and 1805 and arranged chronologically.

Purchased 19 October 1914.

Note: Unsigned, but with inscriptions and dates relating the drawings to Salt's tour with Valentia.

---------------------

WD1308;WD1315

2 unfinished sketches. Purchased 10 June 1958.

---------------------

WD1296-1307; WD1309-1314; WD1316-1318

18 drawings probably made by Salt during 1807 and 1808 from his own sketches for the engravers of ‘Twenty-four views taken in St Helena, The Cape, India, Ceylon, Abyssinia and Egypt’ (London, 1809), and 3 hand-coloured proofs. Arranged according to plate numbers.

Purchased 10 June 1958.