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Interior of a Turkish Caffinet, Constantinople
Allom, Thomas, born 1804 - died 1872 - Enlarge image
Interior of a Turkish Caffinet, Constantinople; Interior of a Turkish Coffee House, Constantinople
- Object:
Watercolour
- Place of origin:
Istanbul, Turkey (painted)
- Date:
1838 (painted)
- Artist/Maker:
Allom, Thomas, born 1804 - died 1872 (painter (artist))
- Materials and Techniques:
Watercolour over pencil heightened with white, with scratching out; stuck down on card
- Credit Line:
Purchased with the assistance of The Art Fund, the National Heritage Memorial Fund, Shell International and the Friends of the V&A
- Museum number:
SD.19
- Gallery location:
Prints & Drawings Study Room, level D, case SC, shelf 1
This watercolour was reproduced as an etching to illustrate Revd Robert Walsh’s Constantinople and the scenery of the Seven Churches of Asia Minor, published in 1838. According to the Revd Walsh’s text accompanying this picture `the caffinet, or coffee-house is something more splendid, and the Turk expends all his notions of finery and elegance on this his favourite place of indulgence' (p.59). This coffee house is typical of the ornate rococo style in which many coffee houses were built. They were timber-framed, the interiors carved and painted, and often equipped with small decorative fountains to cool the air in summer. Here the customers could drink their coffee while listening to music, have a shave, smoke their pipes, listen to storytellers, meet their friends or just relax. As these structures were made of wood, they were particularly vulnerable to the terrible fires that broke out frequently in Istanbul. It is doubtful if a single example of a nineteenth century rococo wooden coffee house still survives.
