An Extremely Rare and Important Ottoman Velvet Panel - SOLD

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An Extremely Rare and Important Ottoman Velvet Panel – SOLD

Turkey – 16th Century – 123 x 173 cmThis velvet panel is a rare example of Ottoman art of textile. The design is in the form of a closed composition surrounded by a border. Here the çintemani spots are not arranged in the usual offset pattern but in straight rows. Each spot is filled with a design of tulips, carnations, rosebuds and hyacinths. The central section of each spot is woven in klaptan. The plain design has a powerful impact.The stylized floral designs now emblematic of the classical Ottoman style were developed during the reign of Süleyman I, also known as Süleyman the Magnificent (r. 1520–66), as an alternative to the “International Style” that prevailed in the area during the early period of rule from the mid-fifteenth to mid-sixteenth centuries. Textile designs feature iconography shared with other decorative media designed by the nakkaşhane (royal design atelier) and adapted to the constraints of the loom to create elegant repeat patterns. The most popular layouts ranged from floral motifs characterized by wavy vertical stems with blooming palmettes (52.20.21), carnations, or pomegranate fruit (52.20.19), to large-scale ogival layouts with delicate peony blossoms creating a lattice pattern (49.32.79).Lattice layouts became popular during the reign of Süleyman I and may also reflect layouts and motifs used in architectural tile decoration from Iznik, or earlier Mamluk silks themselves inspired by Chinese examples. The so-called saz style (52.20.17) was also incorporated into textile design, featuring the sinuous outlining of motifs and jagged edges on leaves and flowers.Associated with court painter Shah Qulu, saz motifs remained in use throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Kara Memi, Shah Qulu’s top pupil and successor as head of the nakkaşhane, added to the painter’s repertoire by developing a stylized iconography of floral motifs including carnations, roses, tulips, hyacinth, and cherry blossoms. These remained favorite motifs throughout the “Tulip Period” of Ahmed III (r. 1703–30).For a velvet similarly decorated with chintamani motifs, from the same period, see: Kanuni Sultan Süleyman ve Çağı, Magyar Nemzeti Museum, Budapest, 1994, p. 100. A highly stylized example from the David Collection, Copenhagen, is published in Kjeld von Folsach’s Art from the World of Islam in the David Collection, Copenhagen, 2001, p. 382. For comparable pieces in the Topkapi Palace Museum, Istanbul, see Topkapi – Costumes, Embroideries and other Textiles, Thames & Hudson, London, 1986, pl. 7-10. For different interpretations of the same motif also see Christian Erber’s A Wealth of Silk and Velvet, Eidition Temmen, Bremen, Undated, pp. 88-93.

An identical velvet panel is in the Ömer Koç Collection, Istanbul, published in Hülya Bilgi’s Osmanli Ipekli Dokumalari Catma ve Kemha, Sadberk Hanim Muzesi, 2007, Istanbul, pp. 60-61.

Categories: Notable Sales
Credits: Private UK Collection

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An Extremely Rare and Important Ottoman Velvet Panel – SOLD

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