A rare and monumental painted leather folding screen depicting a chamber in the Topkapi Palace, Venice, Italy, 18th century

composed of six panels with wooden frames, each set with a stretched leather screen painted in oil, the central scene featuring four men, three seated and one standing, discussing, smoking huqqas and drinking tea with a view of Istanbul in the background, framed by a red and gold border with foliate designs

In overall good condition, paint bright, some ware to leather frames between panels consistent with age and use, as viewed.
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The present screen belongs to a small group of European folding screens with four figures, depicting the four seasons, which were particularly favoured in eighteenth-century Italy. The six-unit screen in the present work depicts a corner in a palatial Ottoman chamber, possibly from the Topkapi Palace.The four units in the centre, portray four figures: three courtiers and a servant. The servant [panel 4] is serving coffee to the three courtly figures who can be identified by their headwear. They appear to be sheikh al-Islam (head of religious affairs) [panel 2], grand-vizier [panel 3] and the Sultan [panel 5].

The chamber resembles the so-called Yazlik Odasi (Summer Chamber) attached to the Sunnet Odasi (Circumcision Chamber) in the fourth courtyard of the Topkapi Palace. The windows behind the courtiers open to the Sofa-i Humayun, overlooking the dome of the Baghdad Pavilion. 

An important screen with four female figures is in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (inv. no. W.59, 1953). The present work is particularly remarkable as it harmoniously integrates an orientalist subject into a European decorative format and is a rare collector's item.