A LITHOGRAPH PLAQUE Fragments D’ornementation D’un Qur’an, D...

Estimate

£200 - £300

A LITHOGRAPH PLAQUE
Fragments D’ornementation D’un Qur’an, Du Tombeau de Soultan El-Ghoury, 16th Century, from the book Arabesques, by EMILE PRISSE D'AVENNES, Paris, 1877

Lithographed by Ollé,
Colour-lithography on tinted grounds, on thick paper
Imp by Lemercier & Cie

Plate Number 185

Émile Prisse d’Avennes (1807-1879) was a French archaeologist, Egyptologist, architect, and writer. Born into a noble family in Avesnes-sur-Helpe, France, he initially trained for a legal career. However, after teaching at an infantry school in Damietta, he chose to pursue archaeology in 1836. Arriving in Egypt in 1827, he worked as a civil engineer for Muhammad Ali Pasha and immersed himself in Egyptian culture, adopting the name Idriss-effendi, learning Arabic, and practicing Islam, which he believed deepened his understanding of Egyptian society. In 1848, Prisse d’Avennes contributed 30 lithographs depicting Nile Valley life to the “Oriental Album” by British author James Augustus St. John.