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Her Majesty at the Ball of the Turkish Embassy, 1856. Queen Victoria is entertained by '...his Excellency Musurus Bey, the Ambassador of the Ottoman Porte, and Madame Musurus...the ball-room [was] fitted up in the Eastern fashion. The floor was of exquisite Swiss parqueterie, introduced into this country by Messrs. Arrowsmith...The walls were hung with a golden fabric, the draperies were of amber. On a dais, laid with crimson velvet and fringed with gold, was a throne with the regal crown richly embroidered, and chairs of state in crimson velvet and gold. Here her Majesty took her seat to receive the assembled guests. At each end of the saloon was a vast mirror, extending from the roof to the floor. Behind the Royal throne and dais was a rich bank of flowers, terminating in a golden pillar on each side, supporting a porphyry vase filled with delicately-hued flowers'. From "Illustrated London News", 1856.