COFFEE BEANS & BEINGS / THE COFFEE BEARER

John Frederick Lewis [1804 - 1876] painted “The Coffee Bearer” in 1857. He was an English Orientalist painter. He specialized in Oriental and Mediterranean scenes in detailed watercolor or oils, very often repeating the same composition in a version in each medium.

Circa 1860s

Lewis, left, lived for several years in a traditional mansion in Cairo, and after his return to England in 1851 he specialized in highly detailed works showing both realistic genre scenes of Middle Eastern life and more idealized scenes in upper-class Egyptian interiors with little apparent Western influence. 

Other work by Lewis:

"The Harem," 1876