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December 30, 2007
| 28mm Middle Eastern Harem | The harem may have its origins in ancient, pre-Islamic Persia, or perhaps its Chinese equivalent, the Emperor’s hougong, but it is best known to the western world as an institution of the Ottoman Empire. Since the word first entered the vocabulary of the West (during the 17th Century) the harem has exerted a somewhat lurid fascination on the imaginations of Westerners. A heady mix of romanticised art and the mildly scandalous writings of Middle Eastern adventurers like Richard Burton have cemented the image of the harem as little more than the Sultan’s private brothel in western minds: a pleasure palace of sensual women lounging around pools, guarded by eunuch guards, hidden from prying eyes. This impression has remained with us to the present day, perpetuated in numerous novels and movies.
There IS an element of truth to this, but in reality the harem was a much more sophisticated and complicated institution than just a Sultan’s play ground. A harem could house not only the ruler’s wives and concubines, but also his mother, daughters, other female relatives, and his sons (up to the age of 16), plus all their slaves. Some of the great harems housed hundreds of individuals and represented, in essence, the private living quarters of the extended ruling family secured away within the palace. Separated from the procedures of government the harem functioned in near isolation with its own administrative infrastructure, but it could exert political influence via the control its women often held directly over the Sultan. As a result harems could be an almost impenetrable morass of factions, rivalries, and whispered conspiracies as various groups manoeuvred for power and influence. Harems could also be dangerous places to be when the old sultan died and the new order took over.
However, we didn’t want to disappoint our customers, and we decided to stay close to the western fantasy! So our new set has everything you need to recreate the ‘classic’ looking harem in all its sumptuous sensuality! There are ten figures in the set, including the Sultan himself, attended by his two current favourites (on musical instrument and water pipe). Other ladies of the harem are bathing, grooming their hair, and feeding their pets, while the whole scene is surveyed by the watchful eyes of their two (presumably) disinterested eunuch guards. There is a bench for the seated figures, and the diorama base includes a sunken bath for the bathing figure. All the figures are cast in white metal and the diorama base and back-drop are made of plastic resin.
All figures and scenery are supplied unpainted.
28mm Middle Eastern Harem (from our Civilian Vignettes range)
100CIV26 Middle Eastern Harem – 12 pieces, plus base and architectural back-drop
Click here to see pictures of all these figures.
Click here to see more colour pictures of this range.
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