TOPKAPI PALACE MUSEUM / MINIATURE COLLECTION

Sultanahmet, Fatih - Istanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°00'48.2"N 28°59'03.5"E / 41.013389, 28.984314

Third Courtyard

DORMITORY OF THE ROYAL PAGES



PHOTOGRAPHS ALBUM - 1

PHOTOGRAPHS ALBUM - 2

Adjacent to the north of the Imperial Treasury lie the pages dormitory, which have been turned into the Miniature and Portrait Gallery Museum. On the lower floor is a collection of important calligraphies and miniatures. In the displays one can see old and very precious Korans (12th-17th c.), hand-painted and hand-written in Kufic and also a bible from the 4th century, written in Arabic.

The following items represent museum's outstanding group of Islamic miniature paintings, found in illustrated copies of classic works and as surviving fragments pasted or bound into albums in the former royal libraries. The first examples of the Ottoman miniature paintings were produced under the patronage of Fatih Sultan Mehmet (Mehmet the Conqueror ) in mid 15th century. An important feature of the Ottoman miniatures is the realistic portrayal of actual events while adhering to the traditional rules of Islamic art.

Topkapı's priceless collection encompasses not only Ottoman works but also those of many different dynasties and regions within the Islamic world, including Baghdad and Mosul in Mesopotamia (13th century); Il-Khanid Tabriz and Muzaffarid Shiraz (14th century); and Akkoyunlu Shiraz and Tabriz, Timurid Herat, and Safavid Shiraz and Tabriz (15th century). Included are scientific works such as Dioscorides' Materia Medica; romances such as the fables of Khalila and Dimna; the Khamsa of Nizami, the Shahname of Firdawsi; and later Ottoman works such as the Süleymanname and the Selimname, in praise of the exploits of individual sultans.

Although the extent to which the early Islamic dynasties depend upon their pre-Islamic past was limited, this was much less true for the natural sciences like physics, mathematics, medicine, astronomy, botany, and chemistry. There are records of the Umayyad Caliphs' attempts to obtain scientific manuscripts of Byzantium, Iran or India.

Under the Abbasids in Baghdad, this movement gained strength (800's). Persian, Egyptian, North African, Spanish and Central Asian (Samanid library) manuscripts were the results of the learnings of the dispersed Abbasid Court. The following illustrations are mostly from these scientific books. There are also illustrations of Kalila wa Dimna and some Persian fables of the same era.

There are very few secular illustrated texts which survive from late Antiquity or Byzantium. The rise of illustrated secular works under Islam occur in the late 12th and 13th centuries. Kalila wa Dimna were the examples of these works that illustrate the appearance of an immensely rich merchant class in the Near East with means and pretensions to ape the rulers. Meanwhile, the Persian paintings were mostly about the pride of the kings and rulers. There were also religious Persian paintings which represent the Persian interpretations of Islam.

Between 1218 and 1220, the Mongols under Jenghis Khan swept into Western Asia. Though their invasion was neither as complete nor as immediate as is often believed, by the late 13th century Mongol states ruled all the way from Mesopotamia to China. In the field of painting the Mongol invasions had important consequences. In Mamluk Syria and Egypt, the Mesopotamian tradition of manuscript illustration was concentrated.

In Anatolia, Mongol over lordship after 1243 stifled architectural and artistic patronage. Most of the states in Anatolia and Central Asia were not fruitful in terms of manuscripts during that time, therefore it was Iran and Mesopotamia that major artistic developments occurred, on a scale which far surpassed anything of earlier centuries. The schools of Tabriz and Shiraz are presented in this page. Most of the depicted illustrations are from Shah-nama's (book of kings) of different rulers and important personalities including Zal, Simurgh, Iskandar, Isfandiyar, Munichir and Bahram Gur.

The Muzaffarid era which ruled and dominated the Shiraz art was brought to an end by Tamerlane (Timur). Timur had established himself at Samarkand in 1370 and for the next 35 years campaigned all over Asia, Iran, Mesopotamia, Syria, North India and Anatolia (after the Ottomans were defeated at the battle of Ankara in 1402). The effects of Timur (Timur was a Turk) were different than the Mongolian invasion effect in terms of art, economics and social systems. The paintings can be categorized as secular art. Paintings from Kalila wa Dimna and Khamsa are depicted in this page as well as some illustrations showing various entertainments.

The Chinese dynasties had a dominant effect on Mongol and East Turkestan painting. The effect was brought to Western Asia by Mongols and Persians. During the time of Timur, the relations between Turcomans and the Ming Court were concrete. Under Shah Rukh relations with China became more cordial, however the Ming returned to neo Confucian practice and the traditional tributary relations and the gift exchange with the hope of making a good Muslim out of Ming stopped.

In any case, the overland trade between China and Central Asia stayed steady. The effects of the Chinese and Central Asian artistic style became dominant in early 1400s. The miniatures depicted in this page are attributed to Mehmed Siyah Qalem and other Siyah Qalem school painters.

The Uzbek occupation of Herat in 1506-7 under Muhammad Shaybani inaugurated a period of instability in Khurasan. Herat did not, however, lose its pre-eminence in the arts of the book, but the principal Herati painters gradually dispersed towards Tashkent, Bukhara and Tabriz. Much Bukhara painting of the mid-sixteenth century is in the style of Bihzad school, albeit with simplification of architectural detail, a narrower range of brilliant colours and, ultimately, figure painting lacking in realism and vivacity.

The Safavids occupied Tabriz in 1501 and their leader Ismail had himself crowned Shah of Iran. Their art was inspired by nationalistic sentiments as well as Turcoman painters of the Akkoyunlu studio. The successor of Ismail, Shah Tahmasp worked on a great illuminated Khamsa of Nizami, written by calligrapher Shah Mahmud al-Naysaburi. The other fine manuscript, Shahname, had dispersed after it was presented to the Ottoman Sultan Selim II in 1567. The depicted illustrations are from Khamsa of Nizami.

After the defeat at the Battle of Ankara against Timur, the Ottomans began their expansion in Anatolia by annexation. When the Balkan expansion started, they had already established a strong state in Anatolia. By capturing Constantinople in 1453, Mehmed acquired the sobriquet of "the Conqueror". There followed the subjection of Genoese colonies on the Black Sea, and the capture of Tirebizond; the invasion of the Morea, northern Albania and Bosnia.

Central to Mehmed's view of the Ottoman state was the conviction that by the conquest of Constantinople the Ottomans had made themselves the heirs of Byzantium and of the Caesars. In this way, his attitude towards European art and literature was influenced. In this page, the portraits of Mehmed and pictures from early Ottoman translations of Persian fables are depicted.

The conquest of Yavuz Sultan Selim I had brought to the Ottomans the tradition of the Abbasid Caliphate, and their status had suddenly grown to that of a world power. Under Süleyman the Magnificent, the expansion was even faster and the Ottoman empire more or less became the world power. The long term age was a fruitful period in terms of arts.

Many artists from Central Asia, Balkans, North Africa and Mesopotamia were gathered in Istanbul, and so were their schools. Many paintings, scripts and topographical prints were produced at that time. The illustrations in this page are depicted from Süleymanname, Hünername, Sahansahname, Surname and other individual scripts of heroic deeds of Sultans.

The Ottoman studio not only dealt with the splendors of everyday life and glories of the blood and State, self-satisfiedly accepting their position as the pivot on which the destinies of Europe and Asia turned, but with Koran illuminations, prayer books, mystical works and poems, history, law, theology, education and mosques as well. The works of Nakkaş Osman and other Siyer-i Nebi illustrations are presented here.

The western artistic effects were influential on the Ottoman artistic style after the seventeenth century, until which the incessant wars and military campaigns together with the religious effects were the main elements of art. The change in taste or fashion was towards more intimate figure studies and scenes from daily life. Surname's of Sultan's show many scenes from festivities. There are other individual scientific and artistic paintings which reflect western styles of idea and art.

LOCATION SATELLITE MAP



WEB SITE : Topkapı Palace Museum Directorate

MORE INFO & CONTACT
E-Mail : topkapisarayimuzesi@kultur.gov.tr
Phone : +90 212 512 0480
Fax : +90 212 526 9840

These scripts and photographs are registered under © Copyright 2018, respected writers and photographers from the internet. All Rights Reserved.

TOPKAPI PALACE MUSEUM / PAINTINGS COLLECTION

Sultanahmet, Fatih - Istanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°00'48.2"N 28°59'03.5"E / 41.013389, 28.984314

Third Courtyard

DORMITORY OF THE ROYAL PAGES



PHOTOGRAPHS ALBUM

Hasoda which was built as the sultans’ private department in Fatih Sultan Mehmed period, is double - storied and has four places. The place in entrance was named Şadırvanlı Sofa due to the marble fountain under Kubbe Altı. The other two parts of the four places was designed as two rooms with dome which are connected to one another and the hall by the doors. The domed chamber is supported by pillars, some of Byzantine origin since a cross is engraved on one of them.

The Dormitory of the Royal Pages (Hasoda Koğuşu) houses the Imperial Portraits Collection (Padişah Portreleri Sergi Salonu) is located in the, which were part of the Sultan's chambers. The painted portraits depict all the Ottoman sultans and some rare photographs of the later ones, the latter being kept in glass cases. The room is air-conditioned and the temperature regulated and monitored to protect the paintings.

Since the sultans rarely showed themselves in public and in order to respect Islamic sensitivities surrounding the artistic depictions of humans, the earlier portraits of them are actually only an idealisation, they do not reflect the reality. Only starting with the rule of the moderniser Sultan Mahmud II and his modern reforms were realistic portraits of the rulers made. An interesting feature is a large painted family tree of the Ottoman rulers.

Adjacent to the north of the Imperial Treasury lays the pages dormitory, which has been turned into the Miniature and Portrait Gallery. On the lower floor is a collection of important calligraphies and miniatures. In the displays, one can see old and very precious Qur'ans (12th to 17th centuries), hand-painted and hand-written in Kufic, and also a Bible from the 4th century, written in Arabic.

The room is air-conditioned and the temperature regulated and monitored to protect the paintings. Since the sultans rarely appeared in public, and to respect Islamic sensitivity to artistic depictions of people, the earlier portraits are idealisations. Only since the reforms of the moderniser Sultan Mahmud II have realistic portraits of the rulers been made. An interesting feature is a large painted family tree of the Ottoman rulers.

After the second half of the 18th century, the miniature technique lost favor in the Ottoman court, and was eventua1Iy superceded by European artistic techniques.There are a total of 37 portraits of the Ottoman Sultans in the Palace, executed by Western and local artists in European portrait style. Some of these portraits have remained in the Palace since their execution, while others were acquired later by purchase. The artists are only known in relatively few cases.

Portraits of the Ottoman sultans comprise a part of the painting collection of the Topkapı Palace Museum. This collection is extremely valuable owing to its portraits of the sultans, containing a variety of portraits of the 36 different ruling sultans beginning with the foundation of the Ottoman state in 1299. These portraits are done in many different styles, among them engravings, oil paintings, watercolors, and paintings on ivory.

No Ottoman sultan commissioned a portrait prior to Sultan Mehmed II (r. 1441–46, 1451–81); for this reason, portraits of the six sultans who ruled before this time were done either according to descriptions of the sultans found in historical texts, or were entirely imagined. Most of the sultans who assumed the throne after Sultan Mehmed II commissioned portraits of themselves.

Those portraits done according to the style of the miniatures tradition by artists working in the miniatures workshop of the organization of palace craftsmen (ehl-i hıref)—an organization of which all palace craftsmen were members—reflect the physical characteristics of each sultan in a highly realistic manner. The most important factor in this realism was the fact that the artists who did these portraits—most of which were commissioned by the sultans themselves—had the opportunity to see the sultan up close and personal.

Apart from Ottoman artists, there are also numerous sultans’ portraits done by European painters; these Western painters would do their portraits based either on miniatures or early engravings, or on their own imaginations, depicting the sultans in a manner suitable to the European image of the Ottomans.

There were, however, some painters who came as part of the retinue of travelers or ambassadors to the Ottoman lands, and these painters had the opportunity to see the sultans at close range—whether during the ceremony of paying the trimonthly stipend to the sultan’s household soldiers, the Friday service, or various other ceremonies such as holiday festivities—which allowed them to paint more realistic portraits of the sultans.

The portrait of Sultan Mehmet II was painted by the Italian painter G. Bellini in the 15th century, and is in the National Gallery of London. The portrait on display is a copy made by the palace painter Zonaro in the early 1900's. The portrait of Sultan Murat IV is attributed to the Russian court painter Aiwazowski (19th century), while the portrait of Sultan Abdülaziz (19th century) is attributed to the Polish painter Chalabovsky.

Moreover there are many more portraits of other Sultans to see including one of Sultan Selim III by Constantin Kapıdağlı. The same artist produced a series of sultan portraits on royal request, of which those of Sultan Süleyman II, Ahmet II, and Mustafa II. Sultan Mehmet V (Reşat) was portrayed by an Austrian artist, the Viennese painter w. Krausz, while the last sultan, Sultan Vahdettin, is represented in a portrait copied from a miniature ivory by the local artist Yaşar Çallı. The other paintings in the collection are anonymous.

A priceless item of this collection is the first world map by the Turkish admiral Piri Reis (1513). The map shows parts of the western coasts of Europe and North Africa with reasonable accuracy, and the coast of Brazil is also easily recognizable.

The upper part of the gallery contains 37 portraits of different sultans, most of which are copies since the original paintings are too delicate to be publicly shown. The portrait of Sultan Mehmed II was painted by the Venetian painter Gentile Bellini. Other precious Ottoman miniature paintings that are either kept in this gallery, the palace library or in other parts are the Hünername, Sahansahname, the Sarayı Albums, Siyer-ı Nebi, Surname-ı Hümayun, Surname-ı Vehbi, and the Süleymanname among many others.

LOCATION SATELLITE MAP



WEB SITE : Topkapı Palace Museum Directorate

MORE INFO & CONTACT
E-Mail : topkapisarayimuzesi@kultur.gov.tr
Phone : +90 212 512 0480
Fax : +90 212 526 9840

These scripts and photographs are registered under © Copyright 2018, respected writers and photographers from the internet. All Rights Reserved.

TOPKAPI PALACE MUSEUM / IMPERIAL WARDROBE COLLECTION

Sultanahmet, Fatih - Istanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°00'45.8"N 28°59'06.8"E / 41.012729, 28.985211

Third Courtyard

DORMITORY OF THE EXPEDITIONARY FORCE



PHOTOGRAPHS ALBUM

The Dormitory of the Expeditionary Force (Seferli Koğuşu) was constructed in 1635 under Sultan Murat IV (1623-1640) on the plot of the demolished portion of the Sultan’s Bath (Hünkâr Hamamı). The old Expeditionary Force Ward consisted of the fountain in front of the Sultan’s Hamam, a bath, a small mosque and the actual dormitory.  The building was torn down and rebuilt by Sultan Ahmet III in 1719, in the course of the construction of the Enderûn Library.

The vaulted dormitory part in the entrance apricot and which was remained from Byzantine Empire has supported by14 columns. Adjacent to the dormitory, located northeast is the Conqueror's Pavilion. This long extensive building with colonnade consists of two large connecting rooms.

In that period, an arcade including the columns of the demolished Pool Pavilion was added in front of the ward. The actual core of the building supported by seven columns has survived up until our present-day. The barrel vaults of the great hall on the courtyard side of the Expeditionary Force Ward, consisting of two intertwined halls, are based on arches and masonry columns. The small hall on the Marmara front has wooden ceilings. The epigraph above the entrance to the ward bears the monogram of Sultan Mahmut II (1808-1839) who restored the building.

The Shirvan, glass cases and wooden bedsteads were removed from the halls during the 1916 restoration. The inscription above the entrance gate bears the name of Sultan Mehmet Reşat V who had these repairs performed in the Hijri year - A.H. 1335 (Gregorian, 1916). The epigraph reads: “This ward which is the Dormitory of the Enderûn Expeditionary Force was repaired and integrated into the Imperial Treasury upon the sovereign order and highest instructions of the Emir of the Faithful, His Majesty the Ghazi Sultan Mehmed Reşad Khan”.

TURKISH EMBROIDERY COLLECTION

Since 1972 this collection has been housed in the old accommodation quarters of the "Ak Ağalar" (White Aghas). Here are embroidered purses, special prayer linen, trouser belts, tablecloths, bed linen, Sultan's caftans, and leather articles like boots and slippers worn by Sultans and princes. The articles wereall embroidered by the harem ladies in the palace, partly as a dowry by yhe young girls, or for their daughters by the older ladies.

The oldest embroideries have classic designs being not very colourful and having stylized flower motifs : tulips, carnations and roses. Later, pomegranate and various leaf and branch motifs were used predominately. In the 17th century one notices embroideries with pastel colours appearing, often with repetitive patterns. Symmetry of patterns was still there, the three of life often appears, and the colours also have two tones. Hyacinths and  artichokes were later added to the repertoire.

When embroidering they often used fine materials. Probably for that reason, today there is no embroidery dating before the 16th century. There are many more embroideries dating from the 18th and 19th centuries, but they are of a lower quality. With the importation of European embroidery competition increased, and this handwork began to lose its importance for ladies towards the end of the 19th century.

IMPERIAL WARDROBE COLLECTION



PHOTOGRAPHS ALBUM

The collection of sultans’ clothing, which showcases perhaps the finest examples of Ottoman textile art, contains clothing of the sultans and princes from the second half of the 15th century to the early 20th century. The decorative patterns of the sultans’ clothing were drawn up by palace miniaturists, who made up a large part of the court’s artists and artisans working for the court, or ehl-i hiref. Besides serâser cloth, the sultans’ garments would be made with expensive silks such as velvet, çatma velvet with raised designs, kemha or velvet pile.

Beginning in the time of Sultan Ahmed III, these heavy and expensive fabrics—with their large amount of gold and silver thread—were replaced with lighter and simpler fabrics such as satin, taffeta, gezi (thickly woven silk cloth), canfes (thin taffeta), sandal (a mixture of cotton and silk), geremsut silk, and selimiye (silk cloth made in workshops near Istanbul’s Selimiye barracks).

For the Ottoman sultans, headgear not only completed an outfit, but also served as an important status symbol. During ceremonies and on reception days, sultans would wear headgear called horasanî, mücevveze, selimî, or kâtibî. Another important piece of Ottoman headgear was the fez. In 1827, Sultan Mahmud II issued an imperial decree abolishing the Janissary corps and establishing a new army called the `Asâkir-i Mansûre-i Muhammediye (Victorious Soldiers of Muhammad), whose mandatory uniform consisted not only of coat and trousers, but also of the fez.

Subsequently, a new clothing regulation was introduced, obliging all state employees and religious scholars to wear the fez. This clothing reform of Sultan Mahmud II served as a means of promotion for the radical changes he brought to the structure of the Ottoman state. The introduction of the fez resulted in other kinds of headgear losing their function as status symbols.

The Topkapı Museum possesses the world's finest collection of Turkish textiles and kaftans. This is due largely to the fact that the kaftans of each Ottoman sultan from the time of Sultan Mehmet II onwards ( 1451-1481) were traditionally preserved in the Palace Treasury. From the end of the 19th century onwards, the sultan kaftans were shown to diplomatic guests in the treasury, a practice that was later carried over from the late Ottoman period into the Republic.

The Dormitory of the Expeditionary Force (Seferli Koğuşu) houses the Imperial Wardrobe Collection (Padişah Elbiseleri Koleksiyonu) with a valuable costume collection of about 2,500 garments, the majority precious kaftans of the Sultans. It also houses a collection of 360 ceramic objects. There displays some sultan’s clothes and kaftans made by precious fabrics from Sultan Fatih to Sultan Abdülhamid II.

In the first room the kaftans (magnificent garments) of all Sultans who lived in Istanbul are displayed. They are made of precious materials, silks, satins, brocades and velvets. Noteworthy displays in the rear room are the garments of princes, valuable Turkish material samples mainly with flower patterns, precious furs used for the Sultans' winter caftans and silk prayer rugs.

The Textile Collection includes children's kaftans, ceremonial and everyday kaftans and other items of royal costume such as shirts and pantaloons, caps, pouches and turbans, as well as household fabrics in the form of quilts, sheets and prayer rugs, decorative cushion covers, wall coverings and floor rugs. Kaftans for daily wear were practical to carry and simple in motif and decoration, while the ceremonial kaftans were valuable and eye-catching. The winter kaftans were made of thick cloth, and often featured furs such as ermine, sable, marten and fox.

The kaftan, arobe-like garment with long wide sleeves and open down the front, was worn over other clothes. Cloth for the kaftans was of Turkish origin, wowen in Bursa and sent to Istanbul for sewing. Upon the death of a sultan his clothes were labelled and carefully stored in the treasury. This, along with the fact that they were taken out and aired each spring to protect them from damp, has resulted in these magnificent garments being amazingly well preserved today.

The development of cloth patterbs is very interesting : The small crude patterns of the 15th century were developed in the 16th century, and designs reached their peak in the 17th century. In those centuries the motifs most frequently used were tulips, carnations, hyacinths, paradise appless, encircled branches, pomegranates, deer and stags.

Most of the kaftans are made of cloth of local origin, although the collection does include those of Iranian, Italian and Spanish origin. We have records of cloth being ordered from overseas by the Ottoman Palace. We also know that "Turkish cloth", kemha (brocade) in particular, was employed for papal vestments. Such cloth was ordered from Ottoman Turkey and made up in Europe where it was embroidered with cruciform and other appropriate motifs.

A number of vestments of this kind ate to be seen in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, the Benaki Museum in Athens and in several European monasteries, and are evidence of the extent of trade in Ottoman textiles after the 15th century.

We know to whom each Kaftan belonged as these fine garments, which constitute the most significant part o costume collection, have been individually labeled after the death of each sultan stored under these names. We can therefore, date most of them from period of Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror (15th century) through to that of Sultan Mehmet V (Resat) (20th century) .Western dress adopted by the sultans during the time of Sultan Mahmut II (1808-1839), after which sultans possessed both traditional kaftans and Europeanized dress.

Other than certain small detail form of the kaftan changed very little over the centuries, as we can see from the the imperial collection. The sultans full-skirted kaftans with stiff yolks over-garments, which were front-but and long-sleeved, the sleeves broad lined with plain silk. Ceremonial kaftans were more decorative and imposing appearance, the hem longer, often trailing the floor, and elongated sleeves trailing behind the hem of the kaftans. These were sometimes attached separately during a ceremony. Winter kaftans are easily distinguishable from summer wear, lined with sable, ermine squirrel, fox and martin, or quilted with cotton.

Documentary material in the archives relating to Ottoman text encyclopaedic, although only a few fabrics have been matched to the vast number of names in the archives. The imperial costumes, especially kaftans, tend to be of heavy brocade-for which the generic term is kemha- and plain and double-pile or catma velvet. Apart from the brocade classed as kemha, there are several other types of brocade of silk wrought with silver and gold thread; these include seraser and serenk, both gilded silk brocades; zerbaft -a heavy gold brocade; and atlas, also classed as a silk brocade.

Other fabrics include taffeta or taftai; damascened brocade or diba; silk brocade wrought with gold or hatai; felt or aba; broadcloth or çuha; camelot or sof; warp- dyed satin or kutni; and finer fabrics such as "gezi" a fine watered silk; "canfez" a silk muslin gauze; and "bürümcük" a fine-spun raw silk gauze. Canfez, gezi and atlas are self -patterned weaves, aba, cuha and sof being plain non-patterned fabrics. Some of the fabrics mentioned can be identified by their warp-stripe or small- motif pattern, or by their damascened surface.

Sultan kaftans were mostly made of heavy brocade with metal thread classed as kemha-a closely woven fabric which was extremely stiff and difficult to tailor, but was preferred for ceremonial occasions as it gave the impression of rigid immobility in the wearer, and encouraged the stiff deportment expected of sultans. Kemha was also eminently suited as a furnishing fabric and was frequently used as such. It is essentially a double-layered weave with silk warp and weft and a supplementary weft of gold or silver thread.

A number of different types of kemha are referred to in archival documents, such as 'yekrenk kemha', 'pesuri kemha', 'muehhip kemha' and "gulistanli kemha". Only the latter brocade, that of "gulistanli kemha" has been subjected to detailed technical analysis. A tightly-warped cloth with eight to nine thousand warp threads, there are two kaftans in this fabric in the collection. The kemha kaftans of Sultans Bayezit II and Selim II are also worthy of note.

Double-piled velvet or çatma was also much used for kaftans. It is a firm, closely woven fabric, the pattern delineated in velvet pile on a background of plain weave often wrought with metal thread. Telli catma-or double-pile velvet wrought with metal thread-was, according to documentary evidence, formerly woven in the Ottoman towns of Bursa and Bilecik.

During the 18th century, it was produced in Istanbul in workshops around Ayazma Mosque in Uskudar, and in the 19th century by weavers around Selimiye Mosque in Istanbul. Widely used as upholstery fabric too, cushion covers and lengths of catma were exported extensively to Europe, which is why Turkish catma can be found in a number of museums in America and Europe. There are four royal catma kaftans in the Topkapı collection, those of Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror, Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent, Sultan Mehmet III and Sultan Murat III.

Plain silk velvet was relatively less used for kaftans. Basically a looped pile cloth; the pile is trimmed in Turkish velvets to give the fabric a smooth or a two-level contoured surface, as in catma. Both the warp and weft of the Palace velvets are silk, with in some cases metal strip woven into the weft.

Seraser is a tightly woven, stiff gilt brocade with a silk warp and weft of gilded silver or silver strip giving it a brilliant sheen. Extremely heavy and valuable because of the metal strip weft, this fabric was largely reserved for ceremonial kaftans. The number of workshops in which seraser was woven were from time to time restricted by imperial order to control the consumption of silver strip, which was used liberally in this type of cloth; hence the cost to the crown of silver was kept under control. The seraser kaftan of Selim II is a fine example of the fabric at its most brilliant condition.

Serenk is a two-color brocade also used in the making of kaftans. It is similars to kemha in structure and appearance but instead of the metal strip, yellow silk is used in the weft, giving the cloth its characteristic golden sheen. The use of silken thread instead of metal strip also renders the fabric softer and more supple. There are two main types of serenk, an unpatterned 'sade serenk' and a stippled fabric or 'Sahbenek.' The kaftans of Sultan Bayezit II and Selim I are two of the finest examples of this cloth in existence.

A number of kaftans were made of monochrome silk satin or atlas, a tightly woven cloth of fine silk with considerable body which was consistently preferred over the centuries for its fine sheen, close in character to that of the silken thread from which it was woven. There are many kinds of atlas, mainly dark burgundy red, cream, yellow and blue. The embroidered kaftan of Crown Prince Mehmet is of burgundy atlas.

The other kind of cloth encountered among the kaftans was selimiye-a patterned silk fabric (both warp and weft of silk) generally decorated with warp stripes, florettes or small motifs in offset repeated in various colors. This kind of cloth, which first appears in 18th century costume, can be seen in the kaftan of Sultan Mahmut I. The textiles in the collection were mainly woven exclusively for the court in Palace workshops, the colors and quality being especially suited to the imperial purse and preference. The most favored ground color was burgundy red, which is combined with a number of contrasting colors, resulting with an extraordinary tonal harmony.

Motifs and patterns are taken from the common repertoire of the Ottoman decorative arts and may equally be encountered on artifacts from other branches of the arts of the period such as rugs and embroideries, ceramic tiles, marble relief and metalwork. Boldly outlined motifs, mainly floriated and foliate in character, such as tulips, carnations, peonies, hyacinths, plane leaves, lanceolate leaves, curved stems, blossoming branches, giant pine cones and pomegranates are the mainstay of this repertoire.

The less common triple dot device often accompanied by the so-called 'chintemani' or stylized cloud motif, the seal of Solomon and Sunburst motifs also figure on imperial fabrics as do animal motifs, although rarely, namely stags and gazelles entwined with curved stems, addorsed peacocks and peacock feather sprays.

Motifs recur in endless repeat patterns of alternate ogival medallions on a single axis or offset on alternate axes, lateral pairs of curved flowers and leaves springing from parallel stems, or floral sprays springing from a single point to cover the surface of the fabric. One rather fine pattern used in kaftans, of the so- called 'saz yolu' type consist of interlacing fine stems and lanceolate leaves.

The collection also contains leather overntantles, also classed as kaftans, and embroidered kaftans of some interest, as well as some press-patterned over plain- dyed cloth and stamped with gilt and silver, and a large number of imperial shirts and drawers, quilted leggings, soft slippers or kalcin (a kind of very thick stocking) and undershirts.

Among the shirts are nearly sixty very curious talismanic shirts, some of which can be identified as the property of particular members of the imperial family, such as the shirt dated 1480, bearing the same of Prince Cem (Cem Sultan). These shirts were designed to protect the wearer from malevolent forces, to ward off genies, sickness, wild beasts or human foes. The shirts were covered with inscriptions and characters of magical or auspicious value, arranged in a grid pattern, and are calligraphically related in character to the art of the manuscript.

The costumes of the ladies of the court have long been the subject of conjecture. We have very few actual examples to hand, as there was no tradition parallel to that which has led to the preservation of the costumes of the sultans.

Most of the harem costumes in the collection were acquired, by bequest or purchase, from members of the imperial family and private collectors when the Palace was turned into a museum, but it is by no means representative. Nineteenth century dressmakers' accounts books inform us that cloth imported from Europe by special order was utilized in the making of costumes for the female members of the royal family. It is costumes of that era that we have in the Palace collection.

Ottoman textiles of the finest quality were produced from the 14th to the 17th centuries, but fine textile weaving began to disappear towards the end of the 17th century, there being an even more marked decline in the industry in the 18th century. Some new local textiles did appear in the 18th century such as Selimiye and Uskudar catma, but, as in the west, the Ottoman market was largely inundated with mass-produced European fabrics following the innovations and modifications to weaving looms introduced by the French engineer, Jaquard in 1876.

The revolution in the European textile industry led to the decline of the centuries old fabric industry in Turkey. It was not until the reign of Abdülmecit (1839-1861) that some attempt was made to revive it, with the removal of the Feshane factory from Kadırga to Eyup where steam-powered looms were introduced in 1843. A textile factory was opened the following year, in 1844, at Hereke, and brocade weaving was begun there shortly afterwards. This factory is still in operation, producing heavy "Ottoman" weaves to order.

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