RAPHAEL VON AMBROS | The Tobacco Seller, Cairo

E. Stacy-Marks Ltd, Selmeston 
Private collection, UK (sale: Bonhams, London, 13 July 2011, lot 68)
Purchased at the above sale by the present owner

The panel is flat, even, and ensuring a stable support. The paint surface appears entirely stable. Inspection under ultra-violet light reveals a layer of even varnish and some scattered, pin-head sized spots and lines of cosmetic retouching, notably in the background in the upper left quadrant. Other fine lines are visible in the red tunic of the standing man and a circa 7cm vertical line, possibly addressing a superficial scratch, is also visible towards the centre of the composition. It should be noted the aforementioned retouchings are all finely applied and are not visible to the naked eye. This work present very well, is in good condition and is ready to hang. Presented in a decorative gilt frame.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Von Ambros depicts a busy tobacco stall outside a coffee shop in the streets of Cairo. On the left, two young men roll cigarettes which have been neatly hung by the merchant on his stall. On the right, a customer samples a cigarette, pondering a purchase. Above the stall on a shelf stand five glass narghile, or hookah vessels. Water pipes were an alternative method of tobacco consumption introduced to the Middle east and Europe from India. The development of a major cigarette industry in Egypt in the late nineteenth century was unexpected, given that Egypt generally exported raw materials and imported manufactured goods, that Egyptian-grown tobacco was generally of poor quality, and that the cultivation and processing of tobacco in Egypt and other peripheral Ottoman provinces, was banned as part of a state tobacco monopoly. However, tobacco traders from across the regions of the Ottoman Empire moved to Cairo to take advantage of a loophole in the law, namely that, although part of the Ottoman Empire, Egypt was outside the tobacco monopoly as a result of its de facto occupation by the British.

Indeed, after British troops began being stationed in Egypt in 1882, British officers developed a taste for the Egyptian cigarettes and they were soon being exported to the United Kingdom. Gianaclis and other Greek cigarette makers including Ioannis Kyriazis of Kyriazi frères successfully produced and exported cigarettes using imported Turkish tobacco to meet the growing world demand for cigarettes in the closing decades of the nineteenth century.

Egyptian cigarettes made by Gianaclis and others became so popular in Europe and the United States that they inspired a large number of what were, in effect, locally produced counterfeits. Among these was the American Camel brand, established in 1913, which used on its packet three Egyptian motifs: the camel, the pyramids, and a palm tree.

A pupil of Hans Makart (1840-1884) at the Vienna Academy, Raphael von Ambros studied alongside fellow Vienna-trained Orientalist painters as Ludwig Deutsch and Rudolf Ernst. Von Ambros began exhibiting his work at the Paris Salon from 1887 where, like Ernst and Deutsch, he found a ready market for his Egyptian street scenes. The high degree of verisimilitude in his paintings resulted not only from his meticulous style, but from the many sketches and photographs taken on the spot during his travels, which he used to work up his finished compositions.