Alfred Couverchel (French, 1834-1867)
Portrait of a Wedding Camel
Oil on canvas

Signed lower right Alf. Couverchel. 20 ½ x 11 ¾ inches (52 x 30 cm), the frame 30 x 21 ½ inches (76 x 54.5 cm). Wide painted wood frame. Good condition, small losses to the frame.

Three dark plumes stand up from the top of the litter. Below them the canopy is bound in crossing bands of red, green and cream, and a deep woolen fringe falls from it over both flanks of the animal in blue green, brick red and cream. The load takes up the whole upper half of the picture.

The camel's head comes out low at the left, under the fringe, with a halter around the muzzle. Behind, low hills run across the canvas in olive and khaki, bare except for one green mass at the right, under a flat clear turquoise sky. The ground is pale warm sand.