A.S. DUJARDIN

A.S. DUJARDIN

Portrait of The Bedouin Keeper of the Royal Giraffe, Hassan El Berberi

c. 1827

Oil on canvas

in a fine early 19th Century French Empire frame

23.25 x 20 inches

Price: Sold

This is the most unbelievably refined and elegant portrait highlighting the synthesis and mutual fascination between East and West in the early Nineteenth Century. The sitter in this portrait has long been identified as Hassan El Berberi, who was the primary keeper of the famous giraffe sent to King Charles X of France as a gift from the Ottoman Pasha, Mehmet Ali of Egypt. El Berberi, who was of Bedouin origin, travelled with the giraffe from Alexandria to France, arriving in Marseilles by ship on 31 October 1826. After resting in Marseilles for the winter, they began the long walk to Paris, stopping in towns along the way with much fanfare, given she was the first giraffe seen in Europe in over 300 years.

After a 41-day journey, she was presented to the King in Paris on 8 July 1827 and settled in at the Jardin des Plantes. Hassan El-Berberi remained in Paris until late 1827 before returning to Egypt in poor health, leaving his Sudanese assistant to care for the animal. Mehmet Ali also gave giraffes as diplomatic gifts to Emperor Francis I of Austria and King George IV of England; the latter gift was the subject of Jacques Laurent Agasse's Nubian Giraffe in the Royal Collection (1827, inv. no. RCIN 404394).