BlackLotus

Algeria. The red cloak worn by Napoleon Bonaparte during his campaigns and which is inspired by  the North African burnous and especially by the ones worn by the Algerian Bachagha. It consists of a long red cloak with a pointed hood embroidered with golden or silver yarns. Bonaparte’s Barnous was seized from Napoleon’s baggage train at the field of Waterloo, following the defeat of the Emperor - 1797/1805.

The painting of Georges Scott shows the meeting of both French and Algerian dignitaries in Algeria during an event celebrating the centenary of Algeria’s occupation, 1930. 

Picture of noblemen and Caïds from the region of Annaba, 1856.

Ouled Naïl are an ethnic group that inhabits the Algerian Saharan Atlas. They lived a Bedouin lifestyle back in the day but most of them have abandoned that in favor of a more stable modern way of life . The tribe's origin has been a subject of debate but they are most likely Amazigh judging by their cloths and the Berber symbols in their tattoos and jewelery.

Ouled Naïl often fascinated European visitors with their unusual way of life. They felt no shame towards public display of affection or female liberation. Among those visitors was French artist Étienne Dinet who left his bourgeois Parisian home in 1884 to visit Bousâada, capital of the Ouled Naïl. He spent five years making art and mingling with the locals then left to display his works in Paris in 1889.

In 1903 he bought a house in Algeria to permanently live in the Ouled Naïl Range and today his remains are burried in the city of Bousâada.

Featured images:

Une jeune femme de la tribu des Ouled Naïl en Algérie, 1905.

Slave Of Love And Light Of The Eyes, Étienne Dinet, 1895.

Mirages, Étienne Dinet, 1906.

Algerian items exhibited in the Musée de l'Homme, Paris, 1963.

[1] : A long velvet Kaftan worn on top of a Ghlila Djabadouli made also with velvet and both embroidered with golden threads.

Algerian women used to wear their Kaftans in a very distinctive way in comparaison of other North African women. Indeed, they were generally worn with a velvet vest.

[2] : Chechia made of velvet and embellished with golden and silver embroidery. it is worn all over Algeria with different and various attires.

[3] : Traditional sleeveless Ghlila made of a very known fabric back then in Algeria called El Khemkha. It has also a typical Algerian embroidery pattern العوينات

[4] : Traditional Frimla embroidered with golden yarns.

[5] : Another type of Frimla made up of cotton, velvet and silk.