Arab Types

Color aquatint on wove paper. Edition unknown, but certainly small, like all the artist’s work. A small paper tab (which we add), handwritten in cursive, titles this work and prices it at $12. Potter was keenly interested in diversity encountered during his travels. He depicted Black Africans, Berber and Bedouin women, young and old, and would go on, upon his return to the United States to depict Indian Americans in his sculptures many times. Here the artist seems to have compiled drawings of three elegant men, likely originally water-colored while living in Tunisia. This intelligent composition, probably etched in Paris, enabled him to show multiple sitters, each looking quite regal. Signed and numbered in pencil. Provenance: the estate of the artist, thence by descent to his great-grandson, New Jersey.