Orientalist oil on canvas painting of substantial scale by British artist William James Muller. The composition presents daily river life on the Nile, with several wooden sailing vessels – feluccas – moored or drifting across calm waters. Signed and dated on the lower right. A label affixed to the verso reads: "With Spink & Son Ltd., London"—a provenance associated with one of Britain's most reputable historic dealers in fine art and antiquities. Mounted in its original giltwood frame, the painting is in excellent condition, recently cleaned and restored, including conservation of the varnish layer. 

William James Muller (British, 1812–1845) was the leading figure of the Bristol School and a distinguished painter of Romantic landscapes and Orientalist subjects. Born to Johan Samuel Muller, a Prussian emigre and curator at the Bristol City Museum, he was immersed early in European art and scientific collections. He exhibited in London from 1833 and gained recognition for his fluid brushwork and atmospheric compositions.

In 1838–1839, Muller travelled to Egypt, where he produced an extensive body of sketches capturing various places along the Nile – from Cairo to Karnak and Luxor. These works became the foundation for his most celebrated Orientalist paintings, noted for their observational accuracy and emotional restraint. In 1843–1844, he joined Sir Charles Fellows on an expedition to Lycia in Asia Minor, further deepening his topographical and architectural interests. Figures on the Nile, painted in 1845, the year of his untimely death at age 33, demonstrates the clarity and maturity of his late style – melding on-site observation with compositional harmony.