Ciala Kavak, Ottoman Village Street, Antique Aquatint by Mayer, 1809

An original antique aquatint with original hand color, published in London in 1809, after a drawing by Luigi Mayer. The caption reads "CIALA KAVAK", the name of the village shown.

A dirt road curves through a village of low log and timber houses with red tiled roofs, shaded by tall spreading trees, with a wooded mountain rising behind. At the left, women in long aprons and headscarves stand in the open doorway of the nearest house, another sits on the ground beside it, and a man in a yellow jacket and red sash, a pole over his shoulder, walks across the road. Further back stands a well with a long sweep pole, where figures draw water, and more houses with an open timber gallery line the road at the right. In the right foreground a woman carries water vessels on a yoke over her shoulder.

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 edge. A few small foxing spots in the margin. All four corners complete.

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