Artists have long been drawn to Oman’s picturesque settlements and dramatic landscapes. During the 1840s and 1850s, Charles Golding Constable, second son of the British painter John Constable, made a series of watercolour sketches of coastal Oman and other locations in the Gulf in his role as a maritime surveyor for the East India Company.

This large-format volume reproduces 29 of his watercolours, along with his acclaimed 1860 chart of the Gulf, and a full facsimile and transcript of the commonplace book that he kept on his voyages. This collection is on long-term loan from Sheikh Fahad bin Abdullah bin Ali al-Araimi at the National Museum – Sultanate of Oman.

Impressions of Oman & the Gulf is written by J.E. Peterson, a leading historian of the region, and his fascinating introduction provides a biographical portrait of Constable and the historical context of his artworks.