Arthur von Ferraris

Private collection, France (acquired by the family in the 1920s; sale: Sotheby’s, London, 14 June 1995, lot 128)
Private collection, London (purchased at the above sale)

Paris, Salon, 1893, no. 694 (as Bédouins chez l'armurier)
Munich, Glaspalaste, Jahresausstellung von Kunstwerken aller Nationen, 1893, no. 422 (as Beduinen beim Waffenhändler)

Lynne Thornton, Les Orientalistes: peintres voyageurs, 1993, p. 84, cited (as Bédouins chez l'armurier)

In this animated depiction of an armourer's shop Ferraris demonstrates his skill both as a draughtsman and as an acute observer of Egyptian society. From the array of weapons including kilij swords and khanjar knives, to the costumes of the shopkeepers and their client, deep in negotiation, every detail is painstakingly observed and minutely rendered, offering up a fascinating visual document of the vibrancy of life in the streets of Cairo at the turn of the century. Ferraris's fastidious attention to detail reflects the influence of his teacher, Jean-Léon Gérôme (lots 8 & 11), at whose encouragement Ferraris travelled to Cairo in the winter of 1885 in the company of Ludwig Deutsch.