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Lot Essay
This elegant after dinner setting features an elaborate dessert table furnished with a silver Roccoco style coffee pot and creamer, silver demitasse cups and celadon ground coffee cups before a Canterbury Box with Georgian glass decanters. The desert has just been served, as the table settings are dissheveled. The initials 'DF' on the napkin most likely belongs to the patron of the household who may have commissioned the present work.
The Turkish delight, a traditional Ottoman after dinner dessert, is prominently placed at the center of the composition signaling the Orientalist fashion during the 19th Century in France. Turkish delight would have been considered a delicacy and to serve it would have been certainly a sign of the host's refinement and wealth. Travels to the Near East became extremely popular during this century and to decorate, wear or serve anything from the Near East was the height of fashion.
The refinement of Turkish cuisine dates back to the Ottoman Emperor Mehmet II. In 1453, when he conquered Constantinople, his first act as ruler was to build a palace worthy of his eminence, which became known as the Topkapi Palace. Rules were set by way of an imperial decree as to the manner in which food was to be prepared and served. It held a status of such great significance in the palace that there were four different areas for cooking. The Kushane was the most important area. It was here that the food for the Sultan was prepared. The second kitchen, Has Mutfak, was where the food for the mother of the Sultan was cooked. The other two kitchens served the harems, members of the palace household and the imperial state chancery.
The food of the palace kitchens became famous. Nobles and officials vied to provide the finest foods. Those who claimed to have kitchens of the same quality and superiority of the palace kitchens enjoyed fame and were regularly honored by Sultans paying them visits and eating their cuisine.
It was only during the 17th century that an agreement with France was initiated, called the Kapitulasyon, that allowed, for the first time in history, trade rights in Ottoman waters. It was following the Kapitulasyon that goods traded in Ottoman Empire would find their way to the tables of Europe.
The Turkish delight, a traditional Ottoman after dinner dessert, is prominently placed at the center of the composition signaling the Orientalist fashion during the 19th Century in France. Turkish delight would have been considered a delicacy and to serve it would have been certainly a sign of the host's refinement and wealth. Travels to the Near East became extremely popular during this century and to decorate, wear or serve anything from the Near East was the height of fashion.
The refinement of Turkish cuisine dates back to the Ottoman Emperor Mehmet II. In 1453, when he conquered Constantinople, his first act as ruler was to build a palace worthy of his eminence, which became known as the Topkapi Palace. Rules were set by way of an imperial decree as to the manner in which food was to be prepared and served. It held a status of such great significance in the palace that there were four different areas for cooking. The Kushane was the most important area. It was here that the food for the Sultan was prepared. The second kitchen, Has Mutfak, was where the food for the mother of the Sultan was cooked. The other two kitchens served the harems, members of the palace household and the imperial state chancery.
The food of the palace kitchens became famous. Nobles and officials vied to provide the finest foods. Those who claimed to have kitchens of the same quality and superiority of the palace kitchens enjoyed fame and were regularly honored by Sultans paying them visits and eating their cuisine.
It was only during the 17th century that an agreement with France was initiated, called the Kapitulasyon, that allowed, for the first time in history, trade rights in Ottoman waters. It was following the Kapitulasyon that goods traded in Ottoman Empire would find their way to the tables of Europe.