Tartarie - Vestibule d’une Maison a Boukhara (Plate 6) (The Entrance to a Residence in the Emirate of Bukhara)

Description

This engraving depicts the entrance to a residence in the Emirate of Bukhara, Central Asia. In 19th-century Europe, the term "Tartarie" was used as a broad ethnographic term encompassing present-day Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and West Turkestan. The composition depicts the courtyard-covered sofa arrangement seen in traditional Bukhara townhouses. This rectangular space features wooden columns, a high-ceilinged portico (canopy), and a single vertical column in the center. The wide eaves supported by the columns and the braided and zigzag patterns on the ceiling beams reflect the rhythmic decorative style of Bukhara's woodwork. The niche and panel lines on the rear walls of the space reflect the decorative style of paper molding or wood veneer effects seen in Timurid and later residential decoration in Central Asia.