© Victoria and Albert Museum, London


Name of Object:

Women grinding corn in Sinai

Location:

London, United Kingdom

Holding Institution:

Victoria and Albert Museum

 About Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Date of Object:

1869

Author:

War Office Topographical Department (publisher); Royal Engineers (photographers)

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Card; albumen stereoscopic print

Dimensions:

Height: 8.5 cm Size of card, Width: 17.4 cm

Provenance:

Egypt, Sinai

Description:

Many of the most popular subjects of stereographs were of topographical views or of scenes unfamiliar to the western audience for whom they were generally produced. This group of Islamic women from Egypt's Sinai Peninsula is shown grinding corn. Their faces are hidden by veils. The veil turns away the gaze while at the same time attracting it. The secrecy of the veil prompted fascination for what was often seen as the mysterious and exotic world of the East or the 'Orient' to 19th-century western viewers. In contrast, the men in the background confront the camera.

Archival or Bibliographical Reference:

'Woman grinding corn in Sinai', no. 3 in a series of Ordnance Survey of Sinai photographs by Royal Engineers for the War Office Topographical Department. Egypt, 1869

Citation of this web page:

Victoria and Albert Museum "Women grinding corn in Sinai" in "Sharing History", Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://sharinghistory.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;AWE;uk;143;en

Prepared by: Victoria and Albert Museum

MWNF Working Number: Uk 143

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