Name of Object:

The Coffee Shop

Location:

Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (Sharjah)

Holding Institution:

Sharjah Art Museum / Sharjah Museums Department

 About Sharjah Museums Authority, Sharjah

Date of Object:

Late 19th / early 20th century

Author:

Filippo Bartolini (1861, Italy-1908, Italy)

Inventory Number:

SM2006-25

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Watercolour

Dimensions:

545 mm x 375 mm

Provenance:

Undetermined

Description:

Coffee shops in the Near and Middle East were regular meeting places for men, who could while away hours chatting, playing domino, smoking and – crucially if dangerously – talking politics. In early 20th century Cairo as elsewhere, spedific cafes became important hubs for social and political discourse.This painting shows a traditional Near Eastern street café. Customers are sitting on long benches in front of its wooden openwork facade, A waiter with a red fez carries a brass coffee pot (dallah) and a tray. Behind him, through the wooden screen, the preparation area, in which the coffee is made, can just be seen on the left. A man wearing a white turban and blue gown, perhaps the proprietor, looks out on the right. All present are captivated by a carpet seller, who is standing in front of the cafe, offering up his wares.

Type of Object

Painting

Citation of this web page:

Ulrike al-Khamis "The Coffee Shop" in "Sharing History", Museum With No Frontiers, 2026.
https://sharinghistory.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;AWE;ua;34;en

Prepared by: Ulrike Al-Khamis

MWNF Working Number: UA 035