Remarkable set of Ottoman woodwork from Damascus, including epigraphic panels from the Hamziyya of al-Busiri, dated 1760-61. Rare set of several carved wood interior panelling elements, stuccoed with gesso in light relief, painted in polychrome, gilded and varnished using the 'ajami technique. The panels are richly decorated with floral bouquets, vases, architectural views, poly-lobed cartouches, scrolls, arabesques, palmettes and abstract motifs on a colored background. The set comprises 11 architectural elements, including the upper part of a mihrab with muqarnas, and 22 panels calligraphed in nasta'liq script containing the first fifteen verses of al-Busiri's poem al-Qasida al-Hamziyya, the last panel dated 1174H/1760-61. The woodwork set is sold as is; accidents, wear, paint chips, missing paint and wood. Some elements with fittings and hinges. The inscription is missing a few words and verses. Ottoman Empire, Syria, Damascus, dated 1760-61 Provenance: - Collection of Colonel Antoine-Pierre Manhès (1878-1943), then by inheritance. Detail of woodwork elements: 1-3. Three double doors, each composed of three panels set into their jambs, topped by a rounded pediment decorated with arabesque palmettes in relief. They are framed by vertical panelling adorned with arabesques in poly-lobed cartouches on a dark green background, and Ottoman knots on a garnet-red background, surrounding an arched lintel decorated with scrolls of floral stems on a yellow background. The leaves of the first door are decorated with star motifs in relief on unpainted jambs, those of the second with small Ottoman monuments and floral bouquets spouting from a vase, and those of the third with mandorles garnished with flowers. With hinges and rings. Size : 210 x 112 cm approx. ; Size of leaf : 125.5 x 29.5 cm ; Size of opening : 126 x 60 cm 4-5. Two paneled frames with the same decor as the three preceding doors, one originally a door frame with missing leaves and fittings, the other a niche front with missing shelves. Dim.: 209 x 111 cm and 209 x 112 cm 6. Niche frame with rounded pediment, with its niche box fitted with two shelves, whose background is painted with semis of flowers in mandorles. Dim. of the niche box: 163 x 81 cm 7. Niche frame with rounded pediment, comprising only the front and the front part of the two shelves, topped by an arched lintel, all mounted on a modern panel. Dim. of niche: 154 x 72.5 cm; lintel: 26.5 x 81 cm 8-9. Two large vertical panels composed of several wooden boards, decorated with floral bouquets in vases on tables, inscribed in poly-lobed cartouches, and floral scrolls. Each panel is set in modern jambs. Dim.: 276 x 66 cm and 276 x 55 cm 10. Long beam decorated with geometrical motifs in relief, composed of an imbrication of diamond-shaped lozenges painted with star motifs and squares, bordered on one side by a scalloped frieze. Length: 288.5 cm; Width: 23 cm 11. Upper part of a muqarnas mihrab consisting of a three-lobed niche encircled by a twisted rim, set in a rectangular structure painted with rows of fleurons. The interior is composed of muqarnas elements and fine stalactites. The reverse side reveals the stacked structure of the muqarnas. Size: 101 x 75 cm; Depth: 30 cm; Overall size: 138.5 x 86 cm; Depth: 37.5 cm 12. Set of 22 horizontal rectangular panels, containing twenty-three epigraphic cartouches out of a set originally assumed to contain twenty-six cartouches. One panel is almost square and another is double-length. All panels are decorated with a polylobed cartouche bearing a raised inscription in nasta'liq script. Several panels are in poor condition and the inscription is partially faded. The first panel is fragmentary, the third panel contains cartouches 3 and 4, and panels 10, 17 and 20 are missing. The text contains the beginning of al-Busiri's poem al-Qasida al-Hamziyya and intentionally ends at the end of the fifteenth verse, as the last panel, corresponding to the twenty-sixth cartouche, contains the date 1174 H /1760-61. Most of the poem is present, but a few words are missing at the beginning of the inscription, and a few verses in the middle of the text. The collector Colonel Antoine Pierre Manhès (1878-1943), an artillery officer, was sent to Syria at the start of the French Mandate in 1920, where he became a member of the staff in Damascus. He was a former aide-de-camp to General Georges Catroux in Damascus, the governor of Syria.