Ottoman Dignitary And His Servant, Oil Signed Wild Circa 1850

Dignitary, Ottoman on a dromedary and his black servant.
Oil on a wooden panel in very good condition. Old crack restored.
Signed Wild lower left.
With the frame 42x48 cm

This painting depicts a typically orientalist scene, with a man in Ottoman attire wearing a chechia and riding a dromedary, accompanied by a black servant. The main character wears a rich embroidered outfit and holds a chibouk, a long traditional pipe. He points a direction to his servant in charge of making the dromedary walk.
The fact that he is on a dromedary points us directly to North Africa, since this animal is not found in Turkey or the Balkans. The scene takes place in Algeria, Tunisia or Egypt, territories that were under Ottoman domination at the time.
Another important detail is the presence of the black servant, who was common in these regions, particularly in Algeria and Egypt, where black servants and guards often accompanied the notables.
The painting is signed: “Wyld”, which seems to correspond to William Wyld (1806-1889), a British painter who traveled to Algeria in 1833. He painted a lot of the Maghreb and especially Algeria. If we compare the style of the English painter and the style of this painting, we are led to think that it is a painter who bore the same name and who was also an orientalist.
Everything therefore suggests that this painting represents a scene in Algeria under Ottoman domination, probably after the French conquest of 1830. It reflects well the vision that European painters had of the oriental world at the time, with a touch of exoticism and admiration for this culture.