Illustration by Virginia Sterrett
It’s not only the translations of One Thousand and One Arabian Nights that have changed over the years; illustrations of the classic have changed as well. The oil painting Alnaschar’s Fortune, by William Ewart Lockhart, embodies a realistic, dramatic Victorian style, but starting in the 20th century, children’s book illustrators showed a move towards abstraction and fancifulness influenced by the larger art trends of their time. The above watercolor by Virginia Sterrett has a slinky 1920s Art Deco feel, halfway between the more realistic Maxfield Parrish and the later stylizations of Erté. The empty space above the princess may have been left for the book’s title, but many interior illustrations of the time showed generous amounts of unoccupied space as well, such as this illustration by Sterrett’s contemporary Kay Nielson.
As the Arabian Nights hodgepodge of Persian, Indian, Arabic, and Jewish tales is presented as belonging to a unified mythical “East” that never really was, the illustration combines elements of various Eastern cultures as well: a Chinese-style headdress on the princess, Ancient Egyptian collar, sheer North African pantaloons, Indian slippers, and Turkish minarets in the background, with the small pursed red lips and sultry eye makeup of a 1920s It Girl.
Unwritten Arabian Nights Tales II
| The Tale of the Serpent-Charmer and His Father
The Porter’s Tale of His First Brother The Mishaps of the Concubine and the Parakeet Queen Taryal and Her Slave-Girls Zariq and the Swallow’s Curse Princess Awaryet and the Amiable Miller The Fat Serpent-Charmer and the Lazy Fakir Garden of the Forty Mice Kelemen the Gem Cutter The Hyena, the Spider, and the Acrobat The Six Lamps of Al-Ibhreen The Wise Son and the Silent Daughter The Gazelle, the Devil, and the Jewess The Voyages of Zartu the Traveler Princess Zulakka and Her Flying Coffee-Set A Letter to the Renowned Imam of Zarrush The Barber’s Tale of His Grandfather Six Times Removed The Ten Cunning Pilgrims Khefren and the Mishap of the Forty Melons The Twelve Daughters of Rhanaziah King Quryn and His Sons, Baraz and Sidyal Bendaisha the Ghoul Queen Faykhaat and the Learned Seamstress The Sultana Who Became an Envoy The Tale of Young Wasdul and His Grandmother The Old Weaver and His Magical Loom The Dillemna of Emir Quaaz and His Elephant The Twelve Queens of El-Zarinda The Lady Arzeena and the Ghost of the Cripple The Journey of Queen Rubanja and Her Brother Sharqeera the Baggar-Woman and the Talking Spider Faldan and the Golden Orange |
