Three moucharabieh fence elements, Egypt, 18th - 20th centur - Lot 201

Three moucharabieh fence elements, Egypt, 18th - 20th century Three large dark wood panels with openwork decoration of small pieces of turned wood, the claustras punctuated with baguettes forming a geometric pattern of squares, rectangles and angular spandrels. Later reinforcements and metal hinges for mounting as a folding screen. 236.5 x 88 cm; 237.5 x 88 cm; 236.5 x 149 cm Minor accidents and missing parts, some restorations, addition of later fittings and hinges, woodworm holes, two uprights and a few small loose parts, re-varnished parts. Six plates and two detached turned-wood elements. Provenance : Former collection of Michael Pacha Portakalian (1842-1897), high-ranking official at the court of Sultan Abdulhamid II, then by descent. The moucharabieh, made of archer-turned wooden coils, is a decorative element found in many countries of the Islamic world, mainly in the Levant, Turkey and Egypt. According to the owners, these panels came from their ancestor's house in Cairo. Mentioned as early as the 11th century in Egypt, moucharabiehs developed particularly during the Ottoman period, as can still be seen in certain Cairo houses such as the Beyt El Sehimi (17th-18th centuries), the Beyt as-Sinnari (1794) and the Beyt al-Kritliyya (now the Gayer Anderson Museum). Generally placed in front of windows, they played a role in the natural ventilation of rooms. As in Naguib Mahfouz's novels, they also enabled residents to observe what was going on in the street without being seen. These openwork structures could also be used to isolate women or the ruler in a religious space, or on furniture. This type of piece is not easy to date, but the woodwork and the shape of the coils and rods making up these sets bear similarities to claustras in the Musée du Louvre (OA 7466/7, UCAD 32469, UCAD 22060 a and b, OA 7466/11) whose dating is evasive or sometimes centered on the 18th century. The presence of impeccable panels, which complement a screen showing general wear and tear and minor chips, suggests restorations on an earlier set. For other comparisons of Cairo moucharabieh: see MAURY, B., RAYMOND, A., REVAULT, J., Palais et maisons du Caire, II, époque ottomane (XVIe-XVIIIe siècles), CNRS Editions, Paris: 1983, fig. 58, pp. 118 - 119.