This Sèvres plate was part of an Egyptian service, with strong Egyptianising motifs and decorated with a copy of a drawing by Dominique Vivant Denon, Voyage dans la Basse et la Haute Égypte, pendant les campagnes du Général Bonaparte (1802). It is said the plate was thrown out of the windows of the Tuileries in Paris during the French Revolution of 1848.

Federico Faruffini’s The Virgin at the Nile shows a scene of sacrifice. In the painting, the artist proposes the integration of two separate contexts through a different pictorial rendering: on the brighter upper part, he sets the historical character and in the lower zone, the more narrative, of obvious academic inspiration. The artist had researched well the customs, traditions and architecture of ancient Egypt.

The winged bulls that once protected the doorways of Assyrian palaces became well-known images in 19th-century Europe. This gold pendant, made in Rome, draws on this popular motif to create a style of jewellery fusing contemporary tastes with fashionable ancient motifs.

This gold necklace, in the form of cast alternating lotus flowers and buds, illustrates the influence of Egyptian motifs on 19th-century French jewellery. As was typical, this necklace is not derived from an original, but is a more free creation based on pattern books.

Carlos de Haes painted this work without ever having visited Egypt. The main theme is based closely on print publications of the Temple of Kom Ombo on the east bank of the Nile Valley. The palm trees and other details were supplied from this imagination.

Edwin Long’s famous grand painting The Babylonian Marriage Market encapsulates the Victorian fascination with the ancient Near East. It is very well informed by archaeological discoveries, but is also based on a story in Herodotus of Mesopotamian life, laced with Orientalist fantasies.

The railways provided easy access for European tourists to visit cities in the Ottoman Empire, and the many archaeological sites. Tourist income became increasingly important to local economies.

The French poet François René Chateaubriand was fascinated by the city of Dido and its glorious ancient past. He visited Carthage in January 1807. This engraving shows him on a hill facing the sea, surrounded by the ruins. His impressions were recorded in his 1811 book Journey from Paris to Jerusalem and from Jerusalem to Paris going by Greece, returning by Egypt.

In 1904, a lavish outdoor performance of Josephin Peladan’s Semiramis was staged. The massive set recreated features of the Assyrian palaces discovered by Paul Émile Botta at Khorsabad. The costumes were a mix of Assyrian, Egyptian and fantasy elements.

Artisans of the 19th century drew inspiration from their ancient forebears. This elegant glass vase, with stylised lotus leaves and buds decoration, was inspired by an Egyptian faïence lotus cup at the British Museum.