Sir Thomas Phillips, a lawyer from Newport in South Wales, was the patron with whom Dadd was travelling when his mental breakdown first became apparent. In 1839, while mayor of Newport, Phillips had acquired national fame and a knighthood for his part in putting down the chartist riots, during which he was shot and seriously injured. Although it was still customary for travellers to wear eastern dress when travelling in the near and middle East at this time, it was no longer absolutely essential for purposes of disguise; and there is in fact nothing in the detailed letters which Phillips wrote home from the journey to suggest that he actually did so. In any case he would not have adopted the Arab costume which he is wearing here, which should probably be seen more in the nature of ‘fancy dress’. Dadd’s lament throughout the journey was that they travelled so far and fast each day, mostly on horseback, that he never had time to draw. This portrait might have been painted from sketches after he returned home, but could equally well have been painted in Egypt while they were sailing on the Nile, one of the rare periods when he would have had time to use watercolour. The gun must certainly be the one with which Phillips conspicuously failed to shoot crocodiles during the Nile excursion.
Acquired in 1993 with the assistance of the MGC/V&A Purchase Grant Fund, the Pilgrim Trust, and the National Art Collections Fund.