Lewis, Charles George (1808-1880; English), after Barker, Thomas Jones (1815-82; British)   
The Allied Generals with the Officers of their Respective Staffs before Sebastapol 1859
Engraving, c.84 x 143.5 cm
Presented by Henry Sewell, Esq. {by 1865}
Location unknown

This work reproduces a work made for Agnew & Sons, specifically for this print, showing the prelude to the siege of Sebastapol, on the Black Sea (1854-55).

The Crimean War between Russia and a British-French-Ottoman Turkish alliance (1853-56), the only major British war of the Victorian era, had a significant impact on the collective psyche of the period. The Charge of the Light Brigade, at the Battle of Balaclava in October 1854, was made famous by Tennyson’s poem, written shortly after the event, and depicted in various images including a painting by Barker (1877).

Tolstoy fought in the Crimea; Roger Fenton made his name with his photographs of the War; and Florence Nightingale is the best known of those who tended the sick and dying: see now * Bonham Carter Florence Nightingale {1880} Loc? [SC].

The donor of this print (named in AR 1870-71 and NGV 1894), may have been the Henry Sewell (1807-79) who was New Zealand’s first premier in 1856, and remained in politics there until he returned to England in 1873.

[comparative photo: impression in Felbrigg Hall, Norfolk]

Refs.

NGV 1865, p.40, engraving no.1; AR 1870-71, p.34: Engravings (framed): as donated by Sewell, “with key”; NGV 1894, p.105 (V.Buvelot Gallery, 2nd bay, no.7; not listed in NGV 1905 

For another impression, see http://www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/object/1396314 (Felbrigg Hall, Norfolk; reproduced above); and for another copy of the key, identifying all the major participants, see https://www.rct.uk/collection/2956256

For further information on Barker and the composition on which this print is based, see http://balaclavabuild.blogspot.com/2012/02/thomas-jones-barker-war-artist.html. See also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Sevastopol_(1854–55) and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charge_of_the_Light_Brigade

See also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Sewell (accessed 11 Oct.2020)