Fish, after Egyptian Wall Painting c. 1876 - 1878

Curator: Here we have Charles Herbert's "Fish, after Egyptian Wall Painting," a small watercolor piece that captures the essence of ancient Egyptian art. Editor: Oh, it’s charming! There’s something so whimsical about its simplicity and the delicate color palette; almost as if the fish is floating through my own imagination. Curator: Fish were incredibly symbolic in ancient Egypt, often associated with fertility, abundance, and even resurrection. This piece echoes those beliefs, filtered through Herbert's own artistic sensibility. Editor: That makes the piece even more intriguing. I love how it blends the rigidity of the scale detailing with the fluid implied movement of the fish— it's a dialogue between order and the unknown depths. Curator: Precisely. It speaks to how images, especially ancient ones, continue to hold meaning and resonate across time and cultures. Editor: It's like a dream you can almost remember— a whispered promise of something vast and unknowable, all held within this little fish.