DUBAI.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Original watercolour of the Al Attar and Bukhash windtower houses in al-Bastakiya. A sensitively rendered image of one of the most iconic views of al-Bastakiya quarter, in mid-20th-century Dubai.It portrays the fine traditional architecture imported by the first merchant families who settled in Dubai in the late 19th and early 20th century. Originating from the Persian city of Bastak, these families have since been an integral part of the urban, cultural, and economic fabric of the Emirate. The most renowned symbol of the Persian architecture they reproduced in Dubai is the windtower (barjeel), which facilitated natural ventilation by channelling the breeze from the creek into the upstairs rooms. The view in this watercolour is located in the western end of the al-Bastakiya quarter, near the Fahidi Fort. On the left is the west wing of the house of Mohammed Sharif Ahmed Bukhash (1871-1947) - "one of the most attractive in al-Bastakiya" (Jackson & Coles) - built in 1945, over a decade after the southern and eastern wings, with a second windtower just visible in the background. On the right is the house of Haji Qaed Ahmad Al Attar, demolished in 1985. The absence of signs of electricity, which first reached Dubai in 1961, and some unfinished decoration on the Al Attar western wall, suggest a date of composition around the 1950s.

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