Lady Anne Blunt’s tent in the Arab desert, by Lady Anne Blunt, 1878

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Watercolour in Lady Anne Blunt’s diary, not signed, 23.8 x 15.6 cm, London, The Wentworth Bequest, British Library

Here we see an example of Anne Blunt’s (Lord Byron’s granddaughter) many talents. This lady was a gifted watercolour artist, played the violin (a Stradivarius), learned the Arabic language and translated pre-islamic Arabian poetry. Together with her husband Wilfrid Blunt and a few Arab guides and camel drivers, she made extensive travels through the Arabian deserts. Riding Arab horses she took the many hardships from traveling in inhospitable areas for granted and collected valuable information about the the Arab horse with the Bedouin tribes and families. In this way she also experienced the lifestyle and culture of the Bedouins. Her purpose was to find and purchase mares and stallions which she selected for her Crabbet Park stud in England. Until the 1960s this stud farm was the leading breeding stable of the pure Arab horse in Europe. Lady Anne Blunt’s diaries were donated to the British Library as the Wentworth Bequest, by her daughter Lady Judith Wentworth.