Recently on my trip to Melbourne I saw a large pair of Blackamoor Torchieres which jogged my memory of a couple of sets of Nubians we have at home...
Above: A pair of Nubian candleholders and a dish holder that Peter brought back from an antique market in Munich. Below: A pair of Nubian book ends I found in the Cotswolds.
In the 18th and 19th centuries there were certain vogues for Blackamoors in decoration which have found recent revivals...
Statuettes...
Jewellery...
Busts...
Clocks...
Candelabra and Torchieres...
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and Sconces...
The Moor in Art
We have a copy of this painting at home:
It is a depiction of the revolt of Cairo on 21 October 1798, painted by Anne-Louis Girodet-Trioson. The revolt was an uprising of Egyptians against Napoleon's forces, which ultimately ended with the wholesale slaughter of many Egyptians inside a large mosque upon Napoleon's revenge.
I love the obviously over romanticized elements of the painting especially the somewhat disrobed figure of either a servant protecting his master, or perhaps the equivalent of fidus Achates protecting Anaeus...
more paintings of Moors...
