Mosque of Mahmoud II at Tophana, Antique Allom Engraving, circa 1850

This original antique steel engraving, Mosque of Mahmoud II at Tophana, is a plate from the second volume of The Turkish Empire Illustrated, published in London by Peter Jackson about 1850. The upright plate shows the mosque of Mahmud the Second at Tophana rising directly from the Bosphorus shore, its slender paired minarets carried high above the dome, with sailing craft and caiques on the water in front of the terrace.

The engraving belongs to Peter Jackson's issue of the Allom and Walsh Turkish Empire Illustrated, printed at the Caxton Press in London about 1850 from plates first made for Fisher's Illustrations of Constantinople and its Environs. Allom trained as an architect before he became a topographical draftsman, which is why his buildings are measured rather than merely picturesque, and the London engravers who worked up his drawings were among the leading engravers of the day.

The upright format suits the subject, because the Nusretiye at Tophana is one of the most vertical of the late Ottoman baroque mosques. It was built to commemorate the destruction of the Janissaries in 1826. This is a steel engraving worked by a named London engraver from Allom's own drawing. Impressions from the series were issued without color, and a sheet that has never been colored later is the one collectors of the series prefer. The publisher's imprint is printed centered beneath the title, and on this sheet it reads for Peter Jackson's London and Paris issue. It frames well on its own over a desk or a chest, and it is equally at home in a group with other Ottoman and Levantine views, where the uniform plate size of the series makes an even wall.

Even age toning. Handling soiling along the bottom, left and top edges. Scattered light foxing in the margin. All four corners complete.

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