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Source Description
Richard Cosway was a prolific painter in London, most well-known for his portrait miniatures and drawings, which he made both on commission and as personal exercises or mementos. Cosway and his wife, Maria Hadfield Cosway, held a fashionable salon at their London residence, and may have invited the likely subject of this drawing, the ambassador from Tripoli, Sidi Hadji Abdurrahman Adja (1720-1792). Abdurrahman Adja was in London in 1786, arrived to improve Tripoli’s reputation with Great Britain. Cosway portrayed the ambassador in a fleeting moment with eyes closed, making sure to capture the fine beard and robes for which he was much admired by London society.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
540587
label
Sidi Hadji Abdurrahman Adja (1720–1792)
core
obj
dtoType
drawing
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
540587
contentType
drawing
title
Sidi Hadji Abdurrahman Adja (1720–1792)
description
Richard Cosway was a prolific painter in London, most well-known for his portrait miniatures and drawings, which he made both on commission and as personal exercises or mementos. Cosway and his wife, Maria Hadfield Cosway, held a fashionable salon at their London residence, and may have invited the likely subject of this drawing, the ambassador from Tripoli, Sidi Hadji Abdurrahman Adja (1720-1792). Abdurrahman Adja was in London in 1786, arrived to improve Tripoli’s reputation with Great Britain. Cosway portrayed the ambassador in a fleeting moment with eyes closed, making sure to capture the fine beard and robes for which he was much admired by London society.
date
1786
citation
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q120401472
creators
3700
genreSpecific
Drawing
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Matted: 38.4 x 28.6 cm (15 1/8 x 11 1/4 in.); Sheet: 33.2 x 24.9 cm (13 1/16 x 9 13/16 in.)
cul
England
accession
2023.46
Source extras
tec
graphite, watercolor, red chalk on paper
tombstone
Sidi Hadji Abdurrahman Adja (1720–1792), 1786. Richard Cosway (British, 1742–1821). Graphite, watercolor, red chalk on paper; matted: 38.4 x 28.6 cm (15 1/8 x 11 1/4 in.); sheet: 33.2 x 24.9 cm (13 1/16 x 9 13/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund, 2023.46
collection
DR - British
didYouKnow
The attire of this gentleman is that of a high-ranking North African secretary or scholar, which led scholars to identify him as the ambassador from Tripoli.
citations
citation
Ferrari, Emma, “I Disegni di Riccardo Cosway nella Biblioteca di Lodi,” <em>Rassegna d’Arte </em>XIII (1913)
page_number
144-147, p. 145
creditline
Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund
updatedAt
2026-05-29 09:10:49.471000
sourceId
540587
dept
Drawings
coll
DR - British
med
graphite, watercolor, red chalk on paper
creatorTags
male
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
6f47dd8662c326fd