Mohammed Racim (1896-1975), Algeria, Algiers, 20th century Gouache and gold on paper depicting an indoor entertainment scene: a woman brandishes a sword above her head, facing a couple seated on a bench, to the notes of the darbouka and oud played by two female musicians and the sound of water flowing from the fountain. A fifth woman kneels on the floor to serve drinks, and a guard posted at the entrance watches the scene. The room is richly furnished and its lace-cut polychrome stucco walls open onto a garden with a pond and fountains. Signed and localized in Algiers in Arabic in the lower right-hand corner and in French in the lower left-hand margin. Above the piece, six cartouches illuminated in gold and polychrome and calligraphed with verses in Arabic thuluth. Surrounded by a geometric border of starry frieze, then a border of fleurons and palmettes. Framed. Page size: 33.5 x 26.1 cm; painting size (excluding borders and margins): 20 x 12.8 cm Paper slightly oiled in the margin.