FAVORITE ODALIQUE 1840 Joseph John Jenkins - Thomas Allom ANTIQUE ENGRAVING

Original 1840 9 1/4 inch x 6 1/2 inch Engraving titled THE FAVORITE ODALIQUE.
The harem depicted here is a complete fantasy composed by Allom. He was responding to a demand for pictures of what only could be imagined by those men who were not, and could never be, entitled to enter, unless they became Muslims and set up households of their own. This picture was intended as an illustration in a book of lithographs, ‘Character and Costume in Turkey and Italy’, published in 1840.
An odalique was a female slave or concubine in a harem.

Engraved by Joseph John Jenkins (1811 - 1885). Born in London, he was son of an engraver, who trained him. He later abandoned engraving for water-colour painting. He became known as a painter of domestic subjects and single figures.
From a painting by Thomas Allom (1804 - 1872). Architect, topographical artist, engraver and lithographer. Apprenticed to the architect Francis Goodwin and a student of architecture at the R.A. schools from 1828. A co-founder of the R.I.B.A. who worked with Charles Barry on Highclere and the Houses of Parliament. Travelled widely recording topographical and architectural scenes. He exhibited sixty-five works between 1824 and 1871 at the Society of British Artists and the Royal Academy.

Image size 6 3/4 inch x 4 7/8 inch
Published by Fisher & Co., London

The engraving is in very good condition. Reverse side blank.