Lot 6: Arthur von Ferraris , Hungarian 1856-1936 The Coffee House, Cairo oil on panel

signed and dated A. Ferraris. Paris / 1888 lower left oil on panel

46.3 by 32.4cm., 18¼ by 12¾in.

Hamann Collection, Hamburg
Acquired from the above in the 1950s by the father-in-law of the present owner; thence by descent

PROPERTY OF A GERMAN PRIVATE COLLECTOR
This scene of a coffee shop allows Ferraris to demonstate his skill as both an architectural draughtsman and as an acute observer of Egyptian society. From the iznik tiles and mashrabiyya (latticed woodwork) shopfront, to the hookah and the mother of pearl inlaid decagonal gueridon upon which it stands, every detail is painstakingly observed and minutely rendered. Ferraris studied in Paris with the renowned academic painters Jean-Léon Gérôme and Jules Lefebvre. It may have been Gérôme who encouraged Ferraris to travel to Cairo - the setting for this scene - and to adopt a similarly polished style, which he shared with his friend and fellow Austrian artist Ludwig Deutsch.