About
The Founder
The Amber Swai Collection started in 2018 when the founder, Amber Swai, acquired her first Orientalist artwork by Carl Werner from renowned 19th century Orientalist art specialists Mathaf Gallery in London.
Swai's passion for Orientalist art originated from her interest in colonial history. This led her to transfer from her Architecture degree at Oxford Brookes University into History of Art with the University of Buckingham. Swai graduated in 2022 with an Upper Second-Class Honours and 70% for her post-colonial themed dissertation. The thesis explored European women’s travel literature about their encounters with Ottoman women who lived within polygamous harems. This research revealed the influence of women's literature on male depictions of Eastern women in Orientalist art.
Since 2018, the collection has grown to house outstanding museum quality Orientalist paintings, with a range of international artworks.
CARL WERNER, THE COFFEE HOUSE 1870
Carl Friedrich Heinrich Werner (German, 1808-1894)
Carl Friedrich Heinrich Werner, The Coffee House 1870
Carl Werner's 'Coffee Shop' was the first painting acquired by the Amber Swai Gallery from Mathaf Gallery London in 2018. This charming watercolour depicts men in traditional garb relaxing at a coffee house and smoking hookah. The central figure is a working youth holding a coffee cup on a tray walking towards the viewer. This illustration is typical of Werner's attention to fine detail in the architecture and intricately painted tiles. Contrary to many Orientalist studio painters who never visited the Middle East, Werner visited Palestine and Egypt between 1862 and 1864 where he likely composed sketches related to this watercolour.
Werner maintains his popular position in the Orientalist genre. His ‘Holy Rock of Jerusalem’ watercolour sold at Christies London for £209,000 in 2017. This impressive figure was demanded by the historical and religious significance of the site for both Muslims and Jews located at the centre of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. According to Islamic belief, it is the place from which the Prophet Muhammad, founder of Islam, is traditionally believed to have ascended into heaven on his horse Buraq. The Rock is also revered in Jewish tradition as the site where Abraham, the progenitor and first patriarch of the Hebrew people, prepared to sacrifice his son Isaac.
signed, inscribed and dated 'C. Werner f.1870' (lower left)
pencil and watercolour on paper
8 x 11½ in. (20.3 x 29.2 cm.)
OTHER WORKS BY CARL WERNER
Carl Werner's ‘Holy Rock of Jerusalem’ watercolour sold at Christies London for an impressive figure of £209,000 in 2017.
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