Name of Object:

A Coffee House in Tophane

Location:

Istanbul, Türkiye

Holding Institution:

Pera Museum

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Date of Object:

Late 19th century

Author:

Megerdich Jivanian (from Thomas Allom)

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Oil on canvas

Dimensions:

W: 1330 + H: 960 cm

Description:

A Thomas Allom composition which appears in the first volume of Robert Walsh’s book Constantinople and Scenery of Seven Churches of Asia Minor is The Coffee-House. This is an oil copy of the composition by Civanyan. Written by Robert Walsh, who served as the private priest of British ambassador Lord Strangford after 1820, the book was published in two volumes in London in 1838. It includes engravings and the book, which was later published in French, acted as an important visual resource on Istanbul and its engravings were used as models by numerous artists. In the corresponding text, Robert Walsh provides information on the interior organisation and decoration of the coffeehouse and relates various details ranging from making music and smoking pipes to the plays of the meddah (storytellers).

Archival or Bibliographical Reference:

Orientalist Paintings Collection-Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation Collection

Citation of this web page:

"A Coffee House in Tophane" in "Sharing History", Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://sharinghistory.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;AWE;tr;34;en

Copyedited by: Daniel de la VegaDaniel de la Vega

Daniel de la Vega is a copy editor based in Portland, Oregon. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in linguistics from the University of California at Santa Cruz in 2014 and has since done editing and localization work on everything from college applications to magazines to video game dialogue.

MWNF Working Number: TR2 030