Provenance: Private Collection, UK Sotheby's, Travel, Atlases, Maps, and Travel History, United Kingdom, 13 May 2021, Lot 16

ABOUT THE WORK

The Britisher Charles W. Andrews is most known for his drawings and lithographs. A few watercolors have surfaced at auction but they do not have the size, scale, nor the amount of such intense and irresistible detail to be found in this artwork. Andrews would provide drawings for the Ilustracion Filipina for less than two years while he was based out of Hong Kong. He would travel to Manila on occasion, certainly to be able to record scenes which he would supply to the London and colonial press, hungry for images of exotic people and locales. This watercolor is approximately 5 to 6 inches taller and wider than his usual output and is done in for his personal collection and not for commercial sale. It pictures a Filipina in a traditional blouse of fiber, worn with a striped overskirt tied at her waist. She wears a religious scapular and a bouquet of flowers. The young girl is portrayed as a maiden because of her loose, unbound hair. She leans against a clay jar called a banga, presumably just before she draws water that pours from a bamboo tube from an unseen spring. Around her is a primeval forest with banana trees far taller than her and vegetation so lush that it seems to tumble down the mountainside. In the distance are blue hills and a coconut palm leaning towards the wind. All in all, this is a wonderfully composed work in excellent condition.