Caravansary at Borgas, Ottoman Travelers' Inn, Antique Aquatint, 1809

An original antique aquatint with original hand color, published in London in 1809, after a drawing by Luigi Mayer. The caption reads "CARAVANSARY AT BORGAS.", a caravansary being a walled inn for travelers and their animals.

The view looks across the open court of the caravansary to long low ranges with gray roofs and columned porticoes on three sides. A round stone basin stands in the middle of the court, with figures beside it. Beyond the roofs rise the domes of a mosque and a tall minaret among trees. At the left a timber gallery under a wide round roof stands on posts, a figure on its balcony beside cloths hung out to dry, and below it a man holds a saddled horse while another kneels on the ground. A dog stands in the court, and at the right a man with a sword at his belt speaks to a bearded man in a long robe.

The caption is engraved in open capitals below the image, and the imprint beneath it names R. Bowyer at 80 Pall Mall and the year 1809. No artist or engraver is named on the plate; the aquatints in this book are unsigned and are probably the work of William Watts.

The plate belongs to Views in the Ottoman Dominions, in Europe, in Asia, and some of the Mediterranean Islands, from the original drawings taken for Sir Robert Ainslie by Luigi Mayer, printed by T. Bensley for R. Bowyer in London in 1810 with 71 hand colored aquatint plates (Abbey, Travel II, 371; Tooley 321). Luigi Mayer (1755 to 1803) was an Italian born artist who worked in the Ottoman Empire for Sir Robert Ainslie, British ambassador at Constantinople from 1776 to 1792.

Even age toning. Handling soiling along the bottom and left edges. Scattered light foxing in the margin. All four corners complete. Several larger brown marks.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.