Edward Bawden was born in Braintree, Essex and studied at Cambridge School of Art from 1919, then at the Royal College of Art from 1922-25, on a scholarship in the design school taught by Paul Nash.
He began commercial work soon after graduation - working for Curwen Press producing illustrations for companies such as London Transport, Shell, Poole Potteries & Penguin Books - and then worked on the Morley College murals with his friend Eric Ravilious. They both moved to Great Bardfield in the 1930s and their watercolour style at this time was very similar. Bawden was appointed by the war office as an official war artist for Britain.
This rare ink painting (known as wash out technique) was used in Claudia Roden's seminal A Book of Middle Eastern Food published in 1968. This painting came from the artist's studio and is marked in pencil and body wash.