The Piping Shepherd. Left: 1864. Oil on canvas. 31 ¼ x 25 ¼ inches (79.4 x 64.1 cm). Private collection. Image courtesy of Sotheby's. [Click on the image to enlarge it.] Right: Keeping Sheep, Bethlehem, c.1869. Pencil, watercolour and gouache; 20 x 13 7/8 inches (50.8 x 35.2 cm). Private collection. Image courtesy of Christie's (not to be downloaded; right click disabled).
The Piping Shepherd was not exhibited at any of the principal London venues. Both the oil version and the later watercolour are virtually the same composition with minor variations, most particularly in the palette, with the oil version being much more colourful. The time of day, the placement of the sheep, and the landscape backgrounds also differ. Both versions, however, show a young shepherd boy in his bright red cap playing a flute to his flock of sheep. In the watercolour the boy has hung his bag and water bottle over a broken limb of the tree. The watercolour is set in the bright sunshine while the oil appears set later in the day with the boy resting in the shade of the giant tree. The scene is likely one that Webb actually observed during his trip to the Holy Land in 1862 and then worked up later in his studio from studies. The oil version is dated 1864 but the watercolour must date to c.1869 in view of an old label on the back which gives Webb's address as "18 John Street/Devonshire Hill/Hampstead N" where Webb(e) was living at that time.
Images of shepherds and sheep were popular subjects for Webb(e) throughout his career. His first exhibit at the Society of British Artists was Heads of Southdown Sheep that he showed in 1853. Prior to his trip to the Holy Land he exhibited Lambs at the British Institution in 1860 and Early Lambs in 1861. The first Orientalist subject he had exhibited at the Royal Academy was in 1863 when he showed A Shepherd of Jerusalem, no. 593. This subject was based on a biblical text taken from John, Chapter X, verse 4 "And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them." The Piping Shepherd, however, seems to have no biblical connotations and is purely an Orientalist genre scene.
Bibliography
European Art. London: Christie's (9 October 2024): lot 62.
Victorian Pictures. London: Sotheby's (June 4, 1997), lot 142, 73.
Victorian Pre-Raphaelite and British Impressionist Art. London: Christie's (13 December 2017): lot 25.
Created 1 June 2025