Ottoman Interiors, Set of Three Antique Allom Engravings, circa 1850

About this sheet

This is an original set of three antique steel engravings from the second volume of The Turkish Empire Illustrated, published in London by Peter Jackson about 1850, sold together as a set and not available singly. The first sheet shows the deep painted eaves and slender columns of the gate leading to the audience chamber in the Seraglio, officers of the household and guards drawn up beneath the canopy, and a mounted figure and attendants in the courtyard beyond. The second sheet shows the long vaulted avenue of the covered bazaar receding into the distance, light falling from the openings in the crown of the vault, merchants seated cross legged in their stalls and a dense crowd of buyers, porters and a mounted figure filling the roadway. The third sheet shows the interior of a Turkish caffinet, or coffee house.

They are three original sheets sold together, and the set is never split. They come from the second volume of The Turkish Empire Illustrated, drawn from nature by Thomas Allom with descriptions by the Reverend Robert Walsh and published in London by Peter Jackson at the Caxton Press about 1850. Every sheet is a steel engraving of the same size, printed without color as issued, with the draftsman lettered at the lower left, the engraver at the lower right and the publisher's imprint beneath the title.

This is the Gate of Felicity at Topkapi, the threshold between the public and the private palace, which almost no European passed. Allom's drawing records the painted woodwork and the arrangement of the court household at a date when the palace was still in use. The Kapali Carsi was the largest covered market in the world and the commercial heart of the Ottoman capital. Allom's handling of the receding vault and the fall of light through it is a fine piece of architectural perspective. A matched group hung together reads as one piece of furniture on a wall rather than as several small pictures, and because the sheets are the same size they frame identically and line up without compromise. Framed alike in plain dark moldings with equal mounts they suit a hall, a stair, a study or a dining room.

Light uneven toning, browner toward the edges. Marked handling soiling along the edges of all three sheets. Light foxing in the margins of all three sheets. Slight wear at the corners of one of the three sheets.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed.