Ottoman Turks Ali and Osman and a Roadside Place of Prayer, 1842

An original antique lithograph with hand coloring, from the Galleria Universale di Tutti i Popoli del Mondo (Venice, Giuseppe Antonelli, 1842). In the upper image two bearded men in white turbans kneel facing each other on a yellow patterned carpet. The man at left wears a lilac robe over a crimson gown with a white sash; the man at right wears a green robe over a yellow gown, and between them stands an open wooden box holding a small vessel. The lower image is a landscape with a small square building under a broad, low pyramidal roof, open in an arch at the front, where a figure bends to a spout of water that runs off as a stream. Two men in long robes stand nearby, two more sit beneath a large tree on a raised walled terrace, and at right rises a slender pointed stone shaft; hills and a distant building close the view under a pale, cloudy sky.

The top margin is lettered Tom IV at upper left, "TURCHIA EUROPEA" at center and Tav 113 at upper right. The captions read "Alì" (Ali), "Osman" (Osman) and "Luogo di preghiera pei Viandanti" (Place of prayer for travelers).

Turchia Europea, European Turkey, was the name for the Ottoman lands in Europe. Running water is needed for the ablutions that precede Muslim prayer.

The calm figures and the open landscape make a gentle, well balanced plate for an Ottoman or Near Eastern collection.

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