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Lot Essay
This double-sided Ottoman miniature is attributable to the court artist Levni (Abdülcelil Chelebi) who was active under the patronage of Sultan Ahmed III (r. 1703-1730). Levni was perhaps the greatest exponent of the 'Tulip Period' - a moment in Ottoman history given to pleasure and extravagant living which saw a revival in the visual arts. Born in Edirne, Levni began his career as an illuminator and decorator but became known for the painting of portraits for albums, particularly single figure studies of the fashionable figures of Istanbul (Atasoy and Çagman 1974, p.76). Whilst he adopted the static poses and classical style of the early 17th century, he reproduced them in a softer but freer and livelier manner.
In 1720, the year he was appointed naqqash bashi, Levni began work on illustrations to the Surnama of Vehbi, perhaps his most important work, which recounted the festivals of Sultan Ahmed’s court. Our paintings are similarly narrative. On one side we see a lady asleep in the foreground, her elegant dress falling away as she is fanned by a servant. Three girls sit on a swing behind her and another climbs a tree – giving a rare view of a figure being depicted from the back. On the horizon two moustachioed men spy on them from behind a rocky outcrop, in a manner borrowed from a Persian pictorial tradition. Amanda Phillips writes that despite this Persianate feature, Levni clearly grounds the painting in 18th century Istanbul, partly through the costume - expensive floral kaftans and fashionable hotoz headgear are worn by the ladies and distinctive turbans, of a type known as külah (which comprise a tall conical hat wrapped in muslin), are worn by the men (Phillips 2016, p.118). She also notes the nest of storks, whose arrival in Istanbul signals spring and whose nests are said to ward off fire and pestilence.
On the other side of our folio is another illustration, thought not to be the work of Levni himself, but rather a member of his workshop. It depicts of a group of seven dervishes crouching on a hilly bank in Dolmabahçe, sipping coffee, smoking opium or sleeping – with the Bosphorous before them. Sheila Canby had suggested that the common theme between the two paintings is one of sleep, and that the folio might come from a treatise on Sufism (Canby 1998, p.102).
Amanda Phillips has more recently studied this folio and places it in the context of other paintings which come from the same original album – all with gold-flecked paper margins, peppered with floral flourishes. They may have originally be from an anthology of poetry. Seven are known, three of which are in Museum für Islamische Kunst, Berlin (inv.nr.I.28.751-c). All have similar identifying notations in the margins, mostly identifying as them as different majalis, or gatherings. The sequence of numbers indicate that they must originally have been part of a series of at least 35 (Phillips 2016, p.112). As Phillips writes, ‘the paintings all depict Ottoman subjects enjoying Istanbul, or occasionally suffering in it’ (Phillips 2016, p.111). She writes that the paintings have a direct connection to the city of Istanbul – ‘all evoking the city, sometimes even depicting specific and identifiable places’ (Phillips 2016, p.112).
In 1720, the year he was appointed naqqash bashi, Levni began work on illustrations to the Surnama of Vehbi, perhaps his most important work, which recounted the festivals of Sultan Ahmed’s court. Our paintings are similarly narrative. On one side we see a lady asleep in the foreground, her elegant dress falling away as she is fanned by a servant. Three girls sit on a swing behind her and another climbs a tree – giving a rare view of a figure being depicted from the back. On the horizon two moustachioed men spy on them from behind a rocky outcrop, in a manner borrowed from a Persian pictorial tradition. Amanda Phillips writes that despite this Persianate feature, Levni clearly grounds the painting in 18th century Istanbul, partly through the costume - expensive floral kaftans and fashionable hotoz headgear are worn by the ladies and distinctive turbans, of a type known as külah (which comprise a tall conical hat wrapped in muslin), are worn by the men (Phillips 2016, p.118). She also notes the nest of storks, whose arrival in Istanbul signals spring and whose nests are said to ward off fire and pestilence.
On the other side of our folio is another illustration, thought not to be the work of Levni himself, but rather a member of his workshop. It depicts of a group of seven dervishes crouching on a hilly bank in Dolmabahçe, sipping coffee, smoking opium or sleeping – with the Bosphorous before them. Sheila Canby had suggested that the common theme between the two paintings is one of sleep, and that the folio might come from a treatise on Sufism (Canby 1998, p.102).
Amanda Phillips has more recently studied this folio and places it in the context of other paintings which come from the same original album – all with gold-flecked paper margins, peppered with floral flourishes. They may have originally be from an anthology of poetry. Seven are known, three of which are in Museum für Islamische Kunst, Berlin (inv.nr.I.28.751-c). All have similar identifying notations in the margins, mostly identifying as them as different majalis, or gatherings. The sequence of numbers indicate that they must originally have been part of a series of at least 35 (Phillips 2016, p.112). As Phillips writes, ‘the paintings all depict Ottoman subjects enjoying Istanbul, or occasionally suffering in it’ (Phillips 2016, p.111). She writes that the paintings have a direct connection to the city of Istanbul – ‘all evoking the city, sometimes even depicting specific and identifiable places’ (Phillips 2016, p.112).