(Recto) Sketch of two young women, one sitting and reading the other stretching and yawning (drawn by Lord Bury) with a drawing of a tree alongside; (Verso) HMS 'Queen' off the 'Island of Brada, Ivisa' (Ibiza?) 26 RMG PZ0859-001

(Recto) Sketch of two young women, one sitting and reading the other stretching and yawning (drawn by Lord Bury) with a drawing of a tree alongside; (Verso) HMS 'Queen' off the 'Island of Brada, Ivisa' [Ibiza?] 26 October 1851
No. 11 of 36 (PAI0849 - PAI0884).
(Recto) This pencil drawing of two girls, not by Mends, is annotated by him 'Done by Lord Bury / Barcelona Sept 18th 1851'. It is not entirely lady-like and may have been considered suggestive in pose at the time and, since clearly not done on board ship, might be a study in a Spanish 'house of ill repute'.
Lord Bury was presumably William Coutts Keppel (b. 1832), known as Viscount Bury from 1851 to 1891, and briefly Earl of Albemarle thereafter. He was lieutenant in the Scots Guards 1848-53 and during at least some of that time in India. How he may have been at Barcelona in 1851 is not yet clear. The tree study in watercolour may also be Mediterranean.
(Verso) Inscribed top left, 'Oct 26th 51/ Island of Brada, Ivisa (?) NNE - 8 miles', this shows part of a large island to the right and a dramatic jutting islet to its left off shore. The three-decker sailing out of the picture plane in the middle distance is identified below as the 'Queen / Sir W. Parker' and flies his admiral's flag at the main. The location may be off the coast of Ibiza of which the Catalan spelling is 'Eivissa'.

Sketch of two young women, one sitting and reading the other stretching and yawning with a drawing of a tree alongside