A MONUMENTAL 'FRANCO-OTTOMAN' GILTWOOD MIRROR

This impressive mirror is surmounted by the royal coat-of-arms of the Husaynid Dynasty, the ruling dynasty of Tunisia from 1705 under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire, and from 1881, as a French protectorate. The use of a coat-of-arms was appropriated from European monarchy by the Bey chieftains and first used by Muhammad as-Sadiq Pasha-Bey who ruled from 1859-1882. His throne at the Ksar Saïd Palace was surmounted by this crest. The Ksar Saïd palace in the Bardo garden district of Tunis was the principal residence of the Tunisian court. Constructed around a series of quadrangles with Islamic decoration, from the mid-19th century, the palace was redecorated under French patronage in the opulent Italianate style by Ali III Bey ibn al-Husayn (d.1902), first ruler under the protectorate.