Scene in a Cairo Bazaar
About the work
This mysterious watercolour was long mistakenly believed to be by John Frederick Lewis, as it shares many of the characteristics of his work. It is probable that Charles Cattermole for a time consciously imitated Lewis’s technique, style and subject matter. There are two extremely similar Orientalist watercolours by Cattermole in private collections, yet he seems to have returned to more conventional subjects and techniques after 1862.
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However, it remains uncertain how Cattermole acquired his understanding of Egyptian life shown in this watercolour. A storyteller or poetry-reciter is performing, with musical accompaniment from a rabab (a kind of viol), to a crowd of passers-by. He holds up his forefinger and thumb either in a gesture to reinforce a point in his story or to display a small object a coin or jewel- to his audience. They listen with rapt attention, men and women, young and old, fair and dark, rich and poor, representative of the medley of different types of people found in Cairo's busy streets. Among them are a wealthy merchant with his two wives and servant, whose garments create an opportunity for the artist to display his knowledge of local costume and his skill in rendering the texture and sheen of rich materials. The street is the Sharia Bab al-Wazir, identifiable from the dome of the Mosque of Amir Khayrbak in the background.
Victoria and Albert Museum
