Vendeur de Caffé par les ruës, plate 56 from "Recueil de cent estampes représentent differentes nations du Levant" 1714 - 1715

Jean Baptiste Vanmour created this print, "Vendeur de Caffé par les rues," as part of a collection depicting various nations of the Levant. Vanmour, a painter of Flemish origin, spent much of his career in the Ottoman Empire, commissioned by European diplomats and travelers eager to capture the exotic allure of the East. This image offers a glimpse into the cross-cultural encounters and exchanges that defined the period. Here we see how one culture might view another through an aesthetic lens. The vendor, presumably Ottoman, is rendered with an ethnographic interest that speaks to European fascination with the "Orient." The artist highlights specific details of dress and custom, contributing to the construction of identity through visual representation. How might the vendor view the representation of himself? The act of pouring coffee becomes a moment of cultural exchange and perhaps also, a moment of reflection on the gaze that others cast upon us.