Code: 11235
"Ghawazees or Dancing-Girls"
Achille-Constant-Théodore-Émile Prisse d'Avennes (1807-1879) (After)
Original lithograph by Achille Jacques-Jean-Marie Devéria (1800-1857)
Published James Madden
London, 1851
On paper, framed and glazed
Measures:-
35 cm x 25 cm (image)
65.6 cm x 54.7 cm (framed)
Provenance:-
Private Collection, Oxfordshire, U.K.
Lettered within the plate "Drawn on stone by Deveria" and titled "Ghawaze or Dancing-Girls".
The French 'Orientalist' author, intellect, archaeologist and artist Prisse d'Avennes (1807-1879) was one of the greatest of the pre-20th-Century travellers to the Middle-East. This fine original handcoloured lithographic print here of Ghawazee (dancing girls) is taken from his work entitled "Oriental album: Characters, costumes, and modes of life, in the valley of the Nile". The Ghawazi or Ghawazee were a group of travelling female dancers originally from the Nawar tribe of the Dom people. Their name was said to derive from the Arabic verb 'to conquer', based on notion that they 'won' the hearts of their audience. Their dancing was the inspiration for much of the modern day concept of 'Belly Dancing'.
Well framed, glazed and mounted. Unexamined out of the frame.
