painting
Artwork
Accession Number
983.854a-bDescription
A framed oil painting on canvas depicting a street scene in Egypt in which two standing women and a man watch a fourth man seated and playing a stringed instrument resembling a small harp.Narrative
This is a late 19th Century copy of the famous 1863 painting of the same title by Frederick Goddall, RA (British, 1822-1904). This copy was painted by Mrs. Sarah Dodds McKilligan (Canadian, 1852-1932). Born in Orangeville, Ontario, Mrs. McKilligan moved to Victoria in 1891. She and her husband resided in Craigmore, a house at 1753 Rockland Avenue. The picture hung there on the living room’s east wall. Mrs. McKilligan’s daughter Jessie, gave the painting to The Castle Society in 1969. Jessie had a connection to Craigdarroch. Her husband, Professor Percy Elliot, had been Principal of Victoria College at Craigdarroch Castle from 1927 to 1943.Goodall’s picture, The Song of the Nubian Slave became very popular in the 19th Century. Many reproductions were published, and Mrs. McKilligan either had one of these prints and/or studied the original work while making her copy.
Of Goodall and this picture, the 1884 Art Journal stated:
“The Nubian Slave is a stranger in busy Lower Egypt - the beautiful land which is trodden by feet from all nations; he comes from places nearer the sun, and there are, in that ever pathetic song of captivity which he is singing, many notes which are strange to Cairene ears.”
Nubia is a region along the Nile River stretching from southern Egypt into Sudan.
The original painting by Frederick Goodall, RA was painted in 1863 and given by him to the Royal Academy as his diploma work. It can be viewed here: https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/art-artists/work-of-art/the-song-of-the-nubian-slave (last accessed May 4, 2020)
History of Use
The picture was painted by Sarah Dodds McKilligan who was born 1852 in Ontario and died in Victoria, in 1932. The McKilligans had moved to Victoria from Eastern Canada in 1891. They built a house at 1753 Rockland Avenue called Craigmore. The family remembers this painting hanging on the wall of the living room.The picture was donated to Craigdarroch in early 1969 and initially displayed in the dining room.
