Open full image Pin

Asciler, or cooks carrying food

Anonymous Greek artist

1809

watercolor

From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum

Romanticism Early 19th Century

Dominant colour

Asciler, or cooks carrying food is a 1809 watercolor by Anonymous Greek artist, a Romanticism work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.

Who painted this?: Anonymous Greek artist
When & what style?: 1809 · Romanticism
Where can I see it?: Victoria and Albert Museum

About this work

This painting is called Asciler, or cooks carrying food. It was made by an Anonymous Greek artist in about 1809. The painting is part of a series commissioned by Stratford Canning, who was interested in Ottoman institutions and customs, and he hired a local artist to make these views and studies. You can learn more about this style at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

The story of this work

Overview

Two men carry a covered serving dish on a pole slung between their shoulders, their task framed by the dense water and bodycolour technique typical of Ottoman art blended with European perspective. The drawing belongs to a large series of views and studies commissioned by Stratford Canning during his diplomatic posting in Istanbul, later acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1895 from his daughter Charlotte Canning.

Read the full account in the museum source.