Mohammed RACIM BEN SAÏD (1842-1919) - Lot 165

Mohammed RACIM BEN SAÏD (1842-1919) Na'layin of the Prophet Muhammad and View of the Ka'aba, 1914 Gouache, polychrome ink, gold and silver on paper. Signed and dated in the four-lobed medallion in the center of the lower margin. 38 x 50 cm; overall dimensions: 57.2 x 69.1 cm Slight polychrome and gilding marks, silver oxidation in places, minor frame damage. The painting depicts the footprint of the Prophet Muhammad's Na'layin sandals, decorated with rocaille foliage scrolls around a line of reserved text in a gilded cartouche. Between the sandals, a view of the Ka'aba sanctuary in Mecca, with a glimpse of the dwellings. The border is punctuated with Arabic epigraphic cartouches depicting Koranic verses and prayers, and gold-backed four-lobed medallions depicting the formula Ma Sha'a Allah, the names of the four Rashidun caliphs, the artist's signature and the date 1333 H / 1914. In its original painted wooden frame made by the artist. Publications : - BOUZID, Zaki, Racim, l'épopée des maîtres ornemanistes en Algérie, 2017, reproduced on the cover and pp. 90 and 91. - BOUZID, Zaki, L'art de la calligraphie de l'ornement et de la miniature, 2018, reproduced on p. 89. Mohammed RACIM Ben Saïd was the uncle of miniaturist Mohammed Racim. With his brother 'Alî Ben Saïd Racim, Mohammed's father, he ran an illumination and woodcarving workshop in the Casbah of Algiers, where his nephew's vocation was born. It was also here that Mohammed received his first instruction in this delicate art, thus continuing the great line of "racim" (Arabic for "painters").