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Lot Essay
This room interior is typical of the type of design which became popular in Syria during the Ottoman period. It consists of an anteroom with a mihrab and a main room which may well have contained a central fountain. This would have been a part of the house intended for receiving male guests, rather than the private or women's quarters. Many examples still exist in private houses in Syria and Aleppo. A fine example of a room interior from Aleppo is to be found in the Berlin museum. The Metropolitan Museum of New York contains a wooden room interior dated AH 1119/1707 AD that is said to come from the Nizam House in Damascus (see the Museum web site). Other examples are to be seen in the Beit Henri Pharaon in Beirut.
The walls of the present example are decorated with small representations of buildings among cypress trees, typical of many countries around the Mediterranean. For a similar examples see a pair of decorated doors sold in these rooms, Ottomans and Orientalists, 17 June 1999, lot 76. Other border areas are decorated with tulips, a motif which was particularly popular in the 18th century.
The walls of the present example are decorated with small representations of buildings among cypress trees, typical of many countries around the Mediterranean. For a similar examples see a pair of decorated doors sold in these rooms, Ottomans and Orientalists, 17 June 1999, lot 76. Other border areas are decorated with tulips, a motif which was particularly popular in the 18th century.