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201 - Three moucharabieh enclosures, Egypt, 18th-20th century Thre…
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Estimate €3,000 - €5,000
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Description
Three moucharabieh enclosures, Egypt, 18th-20th century Three large dark wood panels with openwork decoration of small pieces of turned wood, the screens punctuated with baguettes forming a geometric decoration of squares, rectangles and angular spandrels. Later metal reinforcements and hinges for mounting as a folding screen. 236.5 x 88 cm ; 237.5 x 88 cm ; 236.5 x 149 cm Minor accidents and damage, some restorations, later fittings and hinges, woodworm holes, two uprights and a few small loose parts, re-varnished. Six plates and two detached turned wood elements are attached. Provenance : Former collection of Michael Pacha Portakalian (1842-1897), high official at the court of Sultan Abdulhamid II, then by descent. The moucharabieh, made of archer-turned wooden coils, is a decorative element found in several countries in the Islamic world, mainly in the Levant, Turkey and Egypt. According to the owners, these panels came from their ancestor's house in Cairo. Mentioned as early as the 11th century in Egypt, moucharabiehs developed particularly during the Ottoman period, as can still be seen in certain Cairo houses such as the Beyt El Sehimi (17th-18th centuries), the Beyt as-Sinnari (1794) and the Beyt al-Kritliyya (now the Gayer Anderson Museum). Generally placed in front of the windows, they played a role in the natural ventilation of the rooms. As in the novels of Naguib Mahfouz, they also allowed residents to observe what was happening in the street without being seen. These openwork structures could also isolate women or the sovereign in a religious space, or be used on furniture. This type of piece is not easy to date, but the woodwork and the shape of the coils and rods making up these sets bear some similarities to the claustras in the Musée du Louvre (OA 7466/7, UCAD 32469, UCAD 22060 a and b, OA 7466/11), whose dating is evasive or sometimes centred on the 18th century. The presence of impeccable panels, which complement a screen showing general wear and tear and small chips, suggests restorations on an earlier set. For other comparisons of Cairo moucharabiehs: see MAURY, B., RAYMOND, A., REVAULT, J., Palais et maisons du Caire, II, époque ottomane (XVIe-XVIIIe siècles), CNRS editions, Paris: 1983, fig. 58, pp. 118 - 119.
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About the sale Archaeology & Arts of Islam and India
Auction location
Auction time 06/26/2026 at 1:30 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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