Title: Antique dealing and creative reuse in Cairo and Damascus 1850-1890 : intercultural engagements with architecture and craft in the age of travel and reform /
Authors: Volait, Mercedes,
Year: 2021
Subjects: Antiques business Egypt Cairo History; Antiques business Syria Damascus History; Islamic decorative arts Collectors and collecting History; Antiques in interior decoration History; Salvage (Waste, etc.) in interior decoration History; Cultural property Middle East.; Antiques business; Antiques in interior decoration; Antiquities; Cultural property; Salvage (Waste, etc.) in interior decoration; Middle East Antiquities; Turkey History; Egypt Cairo; Middle East; Syria Damascus; Turkey
Abstract: "The commodification of Islamic antiques intensified in the late Ottoman Empire, an age of domestic reform and increased European interference following the Tanzimat (reorganisation) of 1839. Mercedes Volait examines the social life of typical objects moving from Cairo and Damascus to Paris, London, and beyond, uncovers the range of agencies and subjectivities involved in the trade of architectural salvage and historic handicraft, and traces impacts on private interiors, through creative reuse and Revival design, in Egypt, Europe and America. By devoting attention to both local and global engagements with Middle Eastern tangible heritage, the present volume invites to look anew at Orientalism in art and interior design, the canon of Islamic architecture and the translocation of historic works of art"--
Contents: Early shows and sales of Islamic antiques in Paris -- Expanding trades in late Ottoman Cairo and Damascus -- Conflicted commodification in Cairo -- Fashioning immersive displays in Egypt and beyond -- Guise and disguise before and during the Tanzimat.