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Lot Essay
The Egyptian tents of the 19th and early 20th century are direct descendants of the Ottoman tents many of which are preserved in the Topkapi Place Museum and Military Museum in Istanbul (Atasoy, Nurhan: Otag-i Humayun, The Ottoman Imperial tent complex, Istanbul, 2000). The colours of the decoration of the interior is almost exactly the same as that of many of the Ottoman tents of the 16th and 17th centuries. The present structure also is found in Ottoman tents, with many examples known of walls with sewn-in vertical-supports and also a number of central pole circular examples.
The designs seen here show the influence of the Mamluk revival so popular in Egypt at this time. The Ottoman moitfs from the earlier tents are mostly supplanted by earlier local motifs. In particular the use of calligraphic borders and the very pronounced interlaced roundels are both specifically not part of the Ottoman repetoire.
As the photo shows, the tent can be erected with the decoration reversed should it be thought more appropriate. Since it has been in the Jim Burns Collection it has only been used once a year for a garden party in honour of his mothers birthday.
The designs seen here show the influence of the Mamluk revival so popular in Egypt at this time. The Ottoman moitfs from the earlier tents are mostly supplanted by earlier local motifs. In particular the use of calligraphic borders and the very pronounced interlaced roundels are both specifically not part of the Ottoman repetoire.
As the photo shows, the tent can be erected with the decoration reversed should it be thought more appropriate. Since it has been in the Jim Burns Collection it has only been used once a year for a garden party in honour of his mothers birthday.