Sir Henry Morton Stanley; Mehmed Emin Pasha (né Eduard Schnitzer) and unknown sitters

1 portrait of Sir Henry Morton Stanley

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© National Portrait Gallery, London

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Sir Henry Morton Stanley; Mehmed Emin Pasha (né Eduard Schnitzer) and unknown sitters

by Harry Générés Banks, printed by Stannard & Son, published by Charles Sheard
chromolithograph, 1890
13 3/8 in. x 9 3/4 in. (340 mm x 249 mm) paper size
Given by John Hall, 1972
Reference Collection
NPG D42819

Sittersback to top

Artistsback to top

  • Harry Générés Banks (1862-1947), Lithographer. Artist or producer associated with 7 portraits.
  • Charles Sheard (born 1826), Publisher. Artist or producer associated with 18 portraits.
  • Stannard & Son (active 1870s), Lithographic printers. Artist or producer associated with 17 portraits.

This portraitback to top

This is a historical work of art which reflects the attitudes and viewpoints of the time in which it was made. Whilst these may differ from today's attitudes, this image is an important historical document.

This is a sheet-music cover for 'Stanley's Own Grand Triumphal March', composed by George Asch in 1890. The music 'recounted' scenes from Stanley's expedition across Africa from the Congo to the Indian Ocean to rescue Emin Pasha, the embattled governor of the Equatoria region of Sudan during the Mahdist War (1881-99). The musical narrative follows Stanley's account of the expedition, In Darkest Africa; Or, The Quest, Rescue, and Retreat of Emin, Governor of Equatoria (1890). Stanley's account was also the source for the cover illustration. Around a central portrait of Stanley are scenes of Stanley directing African porters to the left, an attack by African Pygmies on the right and the meeting with Emin Pasha below. The depiction of black figures as unnamed 'extras' in the narrative of a white man's achievement was typical of the period.

Stanley's three-year-long mission was beset by disaster; hundreds of men died from starvation, illness and violence and Emin Pasha refused to come to England. Stanley nonetheless received a hero's welcome on his return to London in 1890. The expedition was more successful in its secondary purpose to advance British and Belgian imperial interests in Africa. Stanley was a controversial figure even in his own time. He was praised for enhancing European understanding of African geography but he was also criticised by contemporaries for compromising the distinction between exploration and warfare in his expeditions. His colonial zeal and significant role in the 'Scramble for Africa' make Stanley a highly problematic figure today.

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Events of 1890back to top

Current affairs

William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, publishes In Darkest England, in which he compares the supposedly 'civilised' England with 'Darkest Africa'. A critique of the degenerate state of society, Booth also proposed social welfare schemes to alleviate the sufferings of the urban poor.
The world's first electric underground railway opens to the public in London, passing under the Thames and linking the City of London and Stockwell.

Art and science

William Morris founds the Kelmscott Press, a revival of art and craft techniques of book printing. Publications included The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer (1896), with decorative designs and typeface by Morris and illustrations by Edward Burne-Jones.
Vincent Van Gogh dies after shooting himself in the chest in Auvers-sur-Oise, France.
Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray first appears in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine .

International

Cecil Rhodes, organiser of the diamond-mining De Beers Consolidated Mines, becomes premier of Cape Colony as part of his expansionist aims in South Africa.
In Germany, Kaiser Wilhelm II dismisses Otto von Bismarck.
An international anti-slavery conference is held in Brussels, leading to the signing of a treaty by all the major maritime nations covering action to be taken against the trade in Africa and suppression of it by sea.

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