About this sheet
This is an original set of two 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 meadow at Goksu on the Asian shore on a holiday, arabas drawn up under the plane trees, veiled women seated on carpets with their attendants, horsemen moving through the crowd and the water of the Bosphorus showing between the trunks. The second sheet shows the Barbyses stream at the head of the Golden Horn on a holiday, caiques drawn up along the bank, parties seated on the grass under the trees with their carpets and refreshments, and low wooded hills behind the meadow.
They are two 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.
The Sweet Waters of Asia was where Constantinople went on a Friday, and the plate is a vivid record of Ottoman leisure: the ox drawn arabas, the carpets, the yashmaks and the arrangement of a society that did its socializing out of doors. The Sweet Waters of Europe was the counterpart on the European shore to the Sweet Waters of Asia, and the two were the recognized resorts of the city. Together the pair of plates records the whole of the Constantinople holiday, which is why they are usually collected together. 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.
Even age toning throughout. Marked handling soiling along the edges of both sheets. Scattered foxing in the margins of both sheets. All corners complete on every sheet.
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.
