Osman Hamdy Bey Turkish, 1842-1910

Although Hamdy Bey became best known for painting mosque and house interiors (see lot 230), this was not to the exclusion of more humble scenes of everyday street life. In this newly discovered work, he depicts a halal butcher, proudly admiring the carcass of a prize goat. 

Halal derives from the Arabic word for 'allowed'. It is the orthodox method of slaughtering and preparing meat as stipulated by shari'a (Islamic religious law).

An oil study for this work, also dated 1878 and depicting the same gate but without a figure, is illustrated in Mustafa Cezar, Sanatta Bati'ya Açilis ve Osman, Istanbul, 1995, p. 663 (fig. 1). 

Fig 1. Osman Hamdy Bey, The Worn Gate, Osman Kerman collection