Imperial Mosques of Constantinople, Set of Three Antique Views, circa 1850

This is an original set of three antique steel engravings from the second volume of The Turkish Empire Illustrated, published in London by Peter Jackson about 1850, sold together as a set and not available singly. The first sheet shows the Suleymaniye seen from its outer court, the great dome banked by half domes and the four minarets rising clear of the colonnade, with cypresses along the wall and figures crossing the paved forecourt in the foreground. The second sheet shows the interior of the mosque of Sultan Ahmed during prayer, the four great fluted piers carrying the dome, worshippers in long ranks across the carpeted floor, and light falling from the tiers of windows onto the painted arches above. The third sheet shows the Mosque of Shah-za-deh Djamesi, the Prince's Mosque of Constantinople.

They are three original sheets sold together, and the set is never split. They come from the second volume of The Turkish Empire Illustrated, drawn from nature by Thomas Allom with descriptions by the Reverend Robert Walsh and published in London by Peter Jackson at the Caxton Press about 1850. Every sheet is a steel engraving of the same size, printed without color as issued, with the draftsman lettered at the lower left, the engraver at the lower right and the publisher's imprint beneath the title.

The Suleymaniye is Sinan's imperial mosque and the architectural high point of the Ottoman sixteenth century, and Allom, who trained as an architect, draws it as an architect would, with the dome sequence and the courtyard arcade set out correctly rather than merely suggested. The mosque of Sultan Ahmed, known everywhere now as the Blue Mosque, is the only Ottoman mosque with six minarets, and Allom draws the interior during prayer. The figures are the point of the plate as much as the architecture. A matched group hung together reads as one piece of furniture on a wall rather than as several small pictures, and because the sheets are the same size they frame identically and line up without compromise. Framed alike in plain dark moldings with equal mounts they suit a hall, a stair, a study or a dining room.

Light uneven toning, browner toward the edges. Marked handling soiling along the edges of all three sheets. Light foxing in the margins of all three sheets. Slight wear at the corners of one of the three sheets.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.