Moser (Francis) Printer.

c.1820. an apparently extremely rare, possibly unrecorded, lifetime portrait of Ali Pasha of Yanina (1743-1822), the hugely significant ruler of modern-day Turkey in Europe, Albania and much of the Balkans during a period of great upheaval in the Ottoman Empire in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, initially gaining a high degree of autonomy within the region, forging diplomatic links during the Napoleonic era not only with revolutionary France, but also with Britain and Russia. His administrative and military machinations proved highly influential in the build up to the Greek War of Independence, and a key figure in the rise of philhellenism. Among the many visitors his court was Lord Byron, in 1809, who was inspired to write his long narrative poem, ‘Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage’, in response. Ali Pasha was eventually declared a rebel in 1820, then finally captured and killed in January 1822. The artist, J.P.A., was presumably another of these diplomatic visitors, as suggested by the fact that the portrait was drawn from life, and that the quality of draughtsmanship suggests he was something of an amateur. Ali Pasha is depicted half-length, smoking his characteristic long pipe, wearing a loose-sleeved top coat with braid trim over possibly a patterned silk, double-buttoned tunic, and with a traditional kufi, taqiyag, or Ottoman skullcap on his head. Francis Moser, whilst not one of the earliest pioneers in lithography, was a prominent figure in the greater promotion of it as a printing process in England, which was quite a long way behind in France and Germany in adopting it.. 330 by 260mm (13 by 10¼ inches).