Orientalist Oil Portrait – Man at Prayer – Signed, London Provenance 1979 – 60 × 50 cm

An oil portrait of a man at prayer, seated in profile on a patterned carpet, hands raised, in a white ghutra with black and gold agal over a dark bisht trimmed in gold. The palette is restrained — warm neutral ground, deep blue-black robe, the carpet worked up in reds and greens. Signed indistinctly in the lower right corner. Framed in white and gilt.

Details

• Medium: Oil on canvas
• Size: Approx. 60 × 50 cm framed
• Frame: White painted moulding with gilt inner edge
• Signature: Signed lower right; the hand is indistinct and we have not been able to read it with confidence
• Provenance: Bears the original shipping label of Gander & White Shipping Ltd, Empress Place, Lillie Road, London SW6, on the stretcher — client "A. Ganhim", dated 25/4/79. Acquired from a private clearance in the UAE.

What the label tells us

Gander & White was founded in London in 1933 and is one of the world's leading fine art logistics companies, a Royal Warrant holder handling work for museums, auction houses, galleries and private collectors. A painting carrying their label was packed and shipped by a specialist fine art shipper, not sent as ordinary freight — which tells you something about how its owner regarded it in 1979. The label is intact on the stretcher and shown in the photographs.

How we arrived at the price

We would rather show our working than ask you to take a number on trust.

• Against the price: the signature is not legible enough for us to attribute the work, and without a name there is no auction record to point to. An unattributed painting is valued on quality, subject and size, not on a market.
• For the price: it is a competently painted original oil, not a print — the handling of the robe and the carpet is confident. The subject sits squarely in the Orientalist tradition that is actively collected in this region. It is already framed. And it carries genuine documented provenance: a specialist fine art shipment out of London in 1979.
• Comparable unattributed Orientalist oils of this size and quality change hands in the region in the low thousands of dirhams. Provenance of this kind moves a piece toward the upper part of that band rather than the lower.

On that basis we have priced it at AED 3,500. If you can read the signature or recognise the hand, tell us — we will reprice openly and say so in the listing.

Condition

Used. Paint surface sound, no visible restoration or losses. Some surface dust and light age-related darkening. The frame shows knocks and small paint losses to the outer edges. Photographed as it is, unretouched. Further condition photographs on request.

Authenticity

Offered exactly as it came to us: an original oil, signed but unattributed, with the shipping label described above. No certificate of authenticity accompanies it and we make no claim as to authorship. Buyers are welcome to inspect the painting in person or arrange their own examination before purchase.

Viewing and delivery

Available to view by appointment at our warehouse. Delivered by hand within the UAE. Shipped worldwide, crated and insured; duties and import VAT are payable by the buyer in the destination country, and many countries apply a reduced import VAT rate to original works of art.

لوحة زيتية أصلية تصوّر رجلاً في وضع الدعاء، جالساً على سجادة بالزي الخليجي التقليدي. نحو ٦٠ × ٥٠ سم مع الإطار. موقّعة في الأسفل إلى اليمين بخط غير واضح، ولم نتمكن من نسبتها إلى فنان محدد. تحمل من الخلف ملصق الشحن الأصلي لشركة Gander & White للنقل الفني في لندن، باسم العميل «A. Ganhim» وتاريخ ٢٥/٤/١٩٧٩.

كيف حددنا السعر: غياب التوقيع الواضح يمنع نسبة العمل ويقلّل السعر، لكن جودة التنفيذ والموضوع المطلوب في المنطقة والإطار الجاهز والمصدر الموثّق من لندن عام ١٩٧٩ ترفع القيمة. لذلك حددنا السعر بـ ٣٬٥٠٠ درهم.